Lost in Binary
by HydraFlow
Summary: 6 years have passed since the world has heard anything regarding Ray Chroma and his cousin, Lylac. With a heavy burden to bear, he must acquire the last piece of his father's weapon at any cost. This is a task easier said than done. Strong language and suggestive themes. Running parallel to the story 'Rogue Huntsman' by Xera Stark.
1. Chapter 1

**{Rerouted}**

Violet eyes scanned the cards held in the palm of his hand before quickly flicking the four aces onto the table with a smirk.

"I win." The boy calmly spoke, smirk widening as he stood up to take the 10,260 Lien laid on the table with a greedy expression.

The boy stuffed the Lien into a black messenger bag by his feet and placed the purple sling over his shoulders, slipping his hands in his pockets and made for the exit.

Only to be stopped by one of the big, burly, bald-headed bouncers.

"Where do you think _you're_ going, kid?" An elderly man - maybe in his forties - sat at the table asked. His voice reminiscent of sandpaper against sandpaper.

The boy dropped his smirk in place of a frown.

"To spend my money," he replied, tilting his head in the direction of his accuser. "Is there a problem with that?"

The man he was playing against took a single, dainty sip of his Atlesian liquor before quickly standing and resting both hands on the second-rate, wooden table in front of him.

The room reeked of both cigarette smoke and the smell of strong liquor, enough to intoxicate anyone in the mere vicinity of the run-down bar they were in. However, despite the billowing clouds of smoke reducing visibility by approximately 60%, the boy's violet orbs pierced the drunk card player's with a burning curiosity and just a hint of animosity.

"As a matter of fact, there _is_. You cheated!" The man slurred his complaint so much it took several milliseconds longer for the kid to actually process what he said, but once it clicked, the smirk he wore previously soon returned.

He pulled his hands out of his pockets and turned to face the man directly, raising his arms up in a questioning pose.

"Where's your proof, old man?" The boy countered. "You can see my cards right _there_ ," His index finger pointed at the four pieces of laminated paper on the surface in front of them. "Your argument is invalid."

His jab at the man's age resulted in a gun being pointed straight at his forehead – this only made things more intriguing for the boy.

"Ooh, _shiny_ ~" He cooed in a lilting tone. "You're gonna try to hurt me with that peashooter? Please. Make my day."

The intoxicated assailant only grew more and more agitated with each second that passed.

"Give us that money back, or you are gonna regret i-"

The tension in the room was quickly interrupted by a loud gunshot rattling the ears of the occupants and the 'peashooter' was quickly ripped from the senile old man's grasp.

A trail of smoke flowed out of the barrel of a bronze revolver, held firmly in the delicate hands of a young woman.

"I thought I told you _not_ to get yourself into trouble?" The silken voice of this new character tickled the boy's ears. "I was only gone for two hours, for God's sake. You _know_ I don't enjoy babysitting you, but clearly that's a fact you are rather negligent of..."

The boy swallowed down a sigh as she brushed past the stunned bystanders and ushered the boy out of the bar, completely failing to acknowledge the bouncer standing beside the door, only giving the grotesque man a single glare from behind her shoulder-length blonde hair, tipped with lilac highlights, before leaving.

The fresh air of Mistral's city cleansed the lungs of the young man like menthol, completely flushing out the smoke and re-oxygenating his blood supply.

After a brief period of silence, the boy sighed and stuffed his hands inside the pockets of his jacket again, his curly, blonde locks of hair swaying in the light breeze.

"You didn't need to get involved," He grumbled. "I had it under control." His voice was laced with annoyance, clearly unamused at the display his accomplice put on.

She scoffed at his claim as she twirled her revolver around her middle finger and slotted it back inside one of the two holsters on her thighs.

"Oh yes, I'm _certain_ you _did_..." She stopped moving and lightly pulled on his arm to gain his attention. " _However_ , that's not the only reason why I freed you from that place."

The boy's expression changed from irritation to curiosity as his violet eyes locked with hers. Her opalescent blue and pink scornful eyes instantly bringing forth mixed feelings inside the adolescent.

"Enlighten me." He commented with mild interest. A sly smirk crossed the woman's lips as she brought her body closer to his.

"I will… for a small fee, of course." He witnessed her give him a small wink, evidently teasing him for her own amusement.

"Ly, let's not-" The boy's protest was cut short as she placed a single finger on his lips to silence him.

"Nope. You owe me for that BS back there. Pay up, Ray." Ly's eyes had that stern look in them that Ray despised. Authority and him didn't exactly get along all that well, but with Ly, he really wasn't in any position to decline.

Sighing, he opened up his messenger bag and plucked out a card valued at 100 Lien before begrudgingly handing it to her.

Make that 10,160 Lien.

Ly gave him a sickeningly sweet grin as she took the card between her fingers and stuffed it inside the back pocket of her bleached, skin-tight jeans.

She had on her usual white duster coat covering her plain white shirt. Her breasts were scarcely on display, only showing a small amount of cleavage and having a natural, firm bounce to them as she casually rocked on her heels beside the boy. At 5'5", Ly was only 7 inches shorter than Ray's 6', thus he wasn't in any way forced to look down upon her.

"Thank you for your generous donation to Lylac's gambling association," She chirped. "Though... I would have _also_ accepted a kiss..."

Ray let out a disgusted groan as he rolled his eyes. "Gods, no. We're cousins for fuck's sake. Just tell me why you came."

Ly's grin fell into a neutral expression, a sign that her next words were of utmost importance.

"I've found it Ray, I've found what we've been looking for." Her voice was low and monotonous, a stark contrast to her usual jovial and carefree attitude.

Ray's eyes widened considerably.

"The missing piece?" He questioned in disbelief.

Her nod of confirmation sent his brain into overdrive. Ray and Ly had spent years tracking down all of the pieces of his late father's weapon; a contraption designed to bend light to his will. When the man died, he had stripped it bare, scattering the parts and telling very few of their locations.

It had been a wild goose chase for both Ray and Ly, travelling to all four kingdoms in search of each part, but they had dedicated themselves to it ever since they came across the blueprint and first part left to Ray through his father's will.

"Yeah, I've found it, but you're not gonna like where it is..." Ly said somewhat ominously, biting her bottom lip.

Ray looked at her in trepidation, he had a bad feeling about this.

"Where is it, Ly? Where is the missing piece?" He asked slowly, his voice absent of inflection.

Her lips parted to allow a sigh to pass and she glanced at him with softened eyes. "It's in Vale, Ray. More specifically... Beacon academy."

The sound of knuckles cracking echoed throughout the alleyway as Ray's fist clamped shut.

A chill ran down the boy's spine as he ran those words through his mind over and over again.

Ly saw the anger boiling within him and immediately went to work in dissolving it. She put one hand on his cheek and the other on his chest, forcing the boy to look at her as she gave him a small smile.

" _Look_ , I _know_ you don't want to go there, but this is the last piece, Ray," Her thumb grazed his cheek and his clenched jaw relaxed.

"Your father purposely set you up to rebuild his weapon and backing down now will only make everything we have been through and all that we have accomplished a waste of time. If you seriously hate Beacon so much that you are unwilling to finish what you started, you might as well have stayed at home with your mother."

Ray sighed. "Yes, but you and I _both_ know that the prospect of filling dad's wish is a pair of shoes I'd rather leave unfilled, Ly."

"But they're _also_ shoes that will get you places. You need friends, Ray. Living the life of an antisocial hermit isn't exactly a life worth living."

Ray knew Ly was right, as she always was. He stared into her eyes and the tension his mind held was released.

Ray's father wanted Ray to attend Beacon when he was of age to become a Huntsman like he was. It was his dying wish, in fact. Though Ray hated that thought with a burning, fiery passion.

He loved his father, make no mistake, but he _hated_ the thought of following in his footsteps.

His Mother however? She was far worse. A lying, cheating, piece of shit if Ray had ever seen one. Even if she _was_ the one that brought him into this world, he hated her guts with every fibre of his being.

"I... really have no choice here, do I?" Ray's question was rhetorical, of course. He already knew the answer to his enquiry. Rebuilding his father's weapon was all he has ever dreamed about ever since the man passed away 6 years ago.

"No, you don't," Ly's answer pierced the momentary silence between them.

"There's another problem too, though. I'm 20 now, this means I cannot join you. I'd love to, believe me I would, but you know the rules."

Ray sighed heavily as her rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Wonderful…" Came the boy's sardonic response. "Can you at least stay in Vale whilst I retrieve it?"

Ly's shrug of uncertainty only worked to worsen his already foul mood.

"I can try, but business is business, Ray. If I have to leave, I can at least let you know, but assuming you go along with this, you're on your own. That means you'll have to deal with people you're probably not going to like, strangers that will try to grow close to you – and we know how _great_ you are at making friends."

Ly flashed the boy a smug smirk, irking him further – a favourite hobby of hers.

Ray simply rolled his eyes. "I walk the path of perpetual torment with you, don't I?" His voice was even, but not hostile. Despite her incessant need to insult him freely and without hesitation, she was the only person on this planet he could openly admit to actually liking.

Not like her being family even mattered in the first place.

* * *

Three days was all it took for the duo to make their way to the Kingdom of Vale. The flights cost Ray an additional 450 Lien. Not like it was a problem for the two though, they collectively sat on a _whole_ lot more.

Ray's mood had seemed to have permanently dampened too. Ly noticed his irritability, the boy nearly picked a fight with four different occupants on the airship they travelled on.

It wasn't as if he couldn't handle himself, but Ly was forced to rein him and his short temper in to prevent painting themselves as a target.

"Isn't this place just wonderful Ray? The kind people~, the fine establishments~," She paused so she could lean towards his ear, "The valuable items to steal..." She straightened her posture once she received a glare from the boy, "Just incredible."

Ray rolled his eyes. "I wish I shared your enthusiasm, Ly. Just don't get too comfortable, we're only here for the part and that's it."

Ly placed a pout on her face, her lower lip jutting out in faux disappointment.

"So, you're telling me you _don't_ want to take from the locals?" She asked playfully, nudging Ray's arm as he kept his gloved hands firmly in his pockets.

"That's not why I'm here. Nor is pickpocketing my speciality." Ly only shrugged off his blunt reply and smiled sweetly.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot! You don't have a habit of stealing _material_ items, do you? Huh, suit yourself. I, on the other hand, am looking to fill my pockets while we're here, gotta make the trip worth it after all." Her giggling ran through the air and tickled the ears of her younger cousin.

"Material items, no. Digital items? Well, I think we _both_ know the answer to that..." Ray responded with a small smirk of his own.

"Ahh! No~! Someone has stolen the contents of my bank account! Whatever shall I do?!" Ly's playful response drew a few glances from passers-by. The young woman could've won an award for her terrible acting alone.

"Please don't," Ray pleaded, "for a pair of criminals, _slash_ antiheroes, we're not exactly the most inconspicuous if we joke about our deeds in public."

"Pair? _Honey..._ We both know _I'm_ the real criminal here," She looked him in the eyes and flashed a toothy grin. "You just 'stress test' the cyber security of banks and other important institutes. Really, they should be thankful for your… services."

Ray allowed himself to release a small chortle.

"Wow, way to downplay the act of breaking through what are meant to be the toughest defence systems in the world." Sarcasm dripped from his tongue as he spoke. "It's not as if – _oh, I don't know_ – the act of infiltrating such systems can be potentially dangerous for my state of mind, or anything."

Ly rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say, Ray."

The pair continued heading towards Beacon Academy's airship docks. Ly had taken the liberty of forging a falsified transcript for Ray, and Beacon – practically _pleading_ for potential Huntsmen and Huntresses as it was – quickly bought into the documentation and accepted Ray for the initiation test that was to take place.

"So, you ready?" The girl asked as they stood in the airship terminal. Ly reached over and straightened the collar of Ray's jacket and brushed off a few stray hairs.

Ray could only shrug in reply, it wasn't as if he would be gone for long after all. His mission was simple; locate the missing piece, reclaim it and drop out as soon as he had it in his possession.

"I suppose, it's not as if I'm here to stay or anything." Ly detected the hint of uncertainty in his voice like a red flag, her immediate response was to draw the boy in for a hug.

"Ray, just know that if you do decide to stay, I won't be saddened. It does upset me that I can't join you – though I probably _could have_ if I just falsified my own documents – but just know that should you get the piece and decide to drop out, I can't really be mad at you for it either."

She parted away from the boy and cupped his cheeks. "Good luck, and try to at least make _one_ friend. It'll do you a world of good."

A small kiss was placed on the boy's cheek followed by a sweet smile.

Ray gave her a respectful nod before adjusting the strap for his messenger bag and waving his only friend goodbye as he turned to board the aircraft laid in front of him.

The young man let off one last long-winded sigh before resigning to his fate and boarding the craft. Knowing in full that he was going to hate every second of Beacon. Hell, he already did.

"Lylac, you better not be lying to me..."

* * *

 **Author's Note: ****This is the debut of Ray. Featured as cameos in Rogue Huntsman and fully shown in his sarcastic glory during chapter 22.**

 **Updates will be whenever I have time to write, edit and then finally upload them, b** **ut they'll only really be uploaded when I get the chance.**

 **As a working man, this can vary; could be during the week or it could be at the weekend.**

 **For now, I hope you enjoyed this pilot chapter and hopefully, the next chapter will come sometime next week.**

 ** _Follow_ , _Favourite_ and for the love of all things holy; _Review._**

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


	2. Chapter 2

**{Outdated}**

This... was a _huge_ mistake.

Ray, upon boarding and settling – he used this term loosely – inside the giant airship, had almost instantly developed a bitter taste in his mouth.

 _Every single_ potential student had already made their way onto his shitlist. He _hated_ them. Not quite with a fiery passion, but if Ray had to measure his level of hatred, he'd say he was pretty damn close to overriding the ship's flight systems and sending them all, including himself, straight to hell.

They were loud, obnoxious and naive. Completely clueless as to what they were signing up for.

It was sad, in a way. These children were all going to be armed with skills, knowledge, and equipment to become ruthless killing machines. Tools for the council to be used like toys. To be sacrificed for the 'greater good'.

They also served their purpose as propaganda too.

Huntsmen and Huntresses were the pinnacle of society, earning more respect and privileges than even _veteran soldiers_. Hell, the discounts they received alone were more than enough proof of that.

This was just the beginning of their professional lives as pawns protecting a governmental system and its respectful ideals that care so little about them. A system in which you _have_ to serve, otherwise you were 'no better than the Grimm.'

 _Oh, boo hoo_.

Ray sat down in what could have been considered as a quiet corner of the craft – as quiet as you'd expect when surrounded by hormone-fuelled, angsty combat trained teenagers – and pulled his violet beanie out from his inside pocket, sticking it over his head before he retrieved his scroll to kill time.

Using the device, he took the liberty of hacking into and downloading the contents of every other scroll on the ship.

Media, messages, bank account details, all of it.

It wasn't hard, in fact, hacking was just as natural to Ray as breathing. There were a few devices he couldn't hack into straight away, but Ray saw that as a sign of more technologically versed individuals and decided it would be in his best interest not to pry for the sake of safety reasons.

 _His_ safety, not theirs.

Regardless, he found nothing that _really_ caught his eye, even the bank accounts were scarce in comparison to what he was used to stealing from. With another burdened sigh, Ray dismissed his scroll and slipped it back inside his jacket before leaning against the backrest and closing his eyes.

He granted himself the opportunity to let down his guard for a few restful moments, once more going over the plan he had set out.

Ly had graciously given him a reasonably accurate location to the missing piece of his father's weapon – assuming this wasn't a ploy to get him to join Beacon.

Unfortunately, it was in the _one_ place he had been trying to avoid his entire life. This meant that despite his animus toward the huntsman lifestyle and the hazards to health that came with it, he would have to play pretend and infiltrate the school to locate the piece.

Once he finds the piece, then come the gruelling task of planning out a way to steal it. Heists were not something that Ray was knowledgeable in.

Hell, the boy could build an Atlesian spider droid from the ground up and simultaneously program it to dance. This would do him no justice here, however.

Pulling up a detailed map of Beacon and its respective grounds wouldn't be too hard, just crack open a server here, download a couple of files there and bingo! Instant access. Therein lies the problem though, it's all well and good knowing the layout of the school, but knowing where the piece is and-

 _Fuck._

How was he meant to find it if he didn't necessarily know _how_ to look for it? He had no method of scanning the school and even if he did, it could be located in a separate location for all he knew.

Realistically, he was fucked and if he couldn't find the piece by himself, it would require the assistance of others and that required making friends and building trust and-

Ray opened his eyes and let out a groan. Things were not looking good for his situation and quite frankly, he was disgusted by the number of unknowns laid out on the table.

"You planned this, didn't you?" He questioned the open air in front of him, though it was directed at his father.

The boy merely shook his head. "Even in _death_ , you still find ways to keep me on my toes."

Ray then tutted. " _And_ piss me off..."

At some point, Ray heard a feminine voice that radiated authority waffling on about Beacon Academy and his brain reflexively tuned out the noise in response. He wasn't interested, he really wasn't, and the less integrated he was with the school, the better off he would be.

Ray spared a moment to scratch at the base of his skull, hacking into devices had the tendency to irritate his neural lace. He really ought to get that fixed at some point, but it was far too out of his way and he hadn't the time to mess around with it.

Sighing once more, Ray leaned his head against the wall of the ship and pulled his beanie over his eyes as he closed them.

He was not ready for this hellhole.

* * *

Lo and behold, he was correct once again, for as the ship came to an ever-so-smooth landing, he was instantly swarmed by the crowd of students and was forced to follow in the same direction to avoid becoming trampled.

When exiting the aircraft, he shook his head in disapproval as many of the students that stood in the courtyard gawked at the size of the academy.

 _Oh wow! Beacon is big! This is so incredibly interesting!_

He continued to express his apathy as he aggressively shoved past many of the students that stood in his way, he wasn't here to marvel at the school, thus had no interest in staring in bewilderment.

Ray chose to follow the flock heading towards the school itself, either they only took mild interest in the school's architecture, or they had somewhere to be.

He was willing to bet on the latter.

The hacker had half a mind to slip in his earphones as he momentarily glanced at his messenger bag. Listening to some music would probably improve his mood, but his better judgement told him it was more ideal to pay attention to his surroundings.

In any case, he continued walking towards the institute, mentally beating himself up over making such a stupid mistake.

Maybe he _was_ in better company with his mother, but the thought of entertaining that idea was killed off just as quickly as it manifested.

 _'Yeah right, I'd rather spend the rest of my life living in Solitas naked than see her face again,' _he concluded. The more he set his mind to reclaiming what was rightfully his and rebuilding his old man's fabled weapon, the more he consolidated his decision to stay well away from his mother and her tyrannical behaviour.

The boy could only _pity_ his younger half-siblings at this point.

'Pity', an interesting word, not something Ray would use lightly. Given the circumstances, however, Ray honestly cared more for the dirt beneath his shoes than he did for those little abominations. Of course his mother had to sleep with a Faunus man, _of course_ she did.

Make no mistake, Ray bore no ill-will towards the Faunus. In fact, he'd done more for them in the past month than the White Fang has done in _5 years,_ but when the woman that gave birth to him sleeps with one behind his father's back and _bears children_ from the endeavour, _that_ he has a problem with.

They were the by-product of a terrible act of adultery and Ray saw them as nothing more.

It didn't matter if they were his twin little sisters, they weren't enough for him to reunite with his gene donor.

No, fuck her and her new perfect little family. Ray already had enough on his plate.

* * *

He entered what was easily identified as an amphitheatre and Ray was slightly impressed by the detail that went into the construction of the building. Though his musing was cut off short by the stampede of students Ray had to duck out of the way to avoid.

" _Gods_ , do these idiots have no spacial awareness?" The hacker murmured as he brushed himself off. "They're like fucking _animals_..."

Ray shook his head in reproach as he found a nearby wall to lean up against. It wasn't exactly concealed, but it helped to eliminate any undesirable attention being drawn to him, which was kind of the idea he had set out.

He wasn't in the mood for conversing with anyone, nor did he want to make friends, he _just_ wanted that part so he could leave.

Ray gripped his right forearm, adjusting the gauntlet hidden beneath his jacket sleeve, his skin itched underneath the aluminium casing – another thing he needed to make modifications to. He would have taken the gauntlet off there and then, but the risk of it being seen was greater than the reward of scratching his arm.

As Ray stayed there up against the back wall, he watched as the rest of the first-years filed in, that, and he also hacked and gained access to all of _their_ scrolls too. It was instinct, to hack others' devices – something his father had taught him to do when the man installed those damn cybernetics in his head in the first place – not to mention the potential insurance gains should he find himself under fire and in need of a deterrent.

Once again, he didn't even _try_ to access the scrolls with a higher security encryption. From the initial scan of the devices, he could only gain a _glimpse_ of some of the specifications, he was impressed, all of it custom hardware, some of it he recognised, most of it he didn't.

However, he left it at that and decided that playing a game on his scroll would be far more entertaining. Turning the volume down to avoid looks from the various students in his immediate vicinity, he loaded the game up on his scroll and linked it to the implants in his head, allowing the game to make use of his brain's superior processing power to provide himself with nicer graphics and a faster frame rate.

 _Hey, if it's there, you might as well use it, right?_

Not to mention it wasn't a game designed for scroll use anyway, the fastest model scroll on the market couldn't hold a candle to the speed at which Ray's scroll could run at whilst using its symbiotic link to the boy.

Suddenly, Ray was jerked out of the undivided attention given to his racing game by someone nudging his right shoulder with their elbow. Instinctively, he flinched and sharply turned his head to the offending individual.

" _What?_ " He snapped, glaring at the girl in question.

The girl shrunk under his intense gaze, her shoulders curling inwards and her arms raised in a defensive pose, despite Ray having no intention of hitting the frail creature.

He frowned when he looked at her scarlet eyes – pools of immense passion and love – and took note of how they avoided his; a sign of intimidation. Her hair matched the colour of her eyes as it's crimson locks covered the left side of her head and flowed down to just below her shoulders, partially concealing her somewhat frightened expression.

 _Isn't this girl supposed to be a huntress in training? Why the hell was she displaying signs of fear?_

Sighing, his frown disappeared but his eyebrows remained furrowed as guilt tugged at his conscience like a small child.

"Uh _sorry_ , I didn't mean to… snap," He hesitantly attempted to reconcile with the girl, despite not knowing her.

He wasn't the greatest at making conversation with strangers. To be quite honest, he wasn't good at making conversation in general.

"Can I... y'know... help you?" He asked, his eyes trained on hers in a neutral expression. Much to his dismay – and annoyance – she non-verbally gave him his answer by pointing toward the stage at the front of the amphitheatre.

" _Right_ , okay..."

Ray stood there awkwardly before taking a few evasive steps to the left away from the girl, before fixing his eyes on the two individuals standing by the microphone.

Ray studied them thoroughly.

The male, a man whose age was unknown to Ray, had tousled silver hair and thin brown eyes. Sharp facial features were apparent and he possessed a light complexion, almost looking as if he hadn't seen the sun in months.

He wore a black suit paired with a forest green cowl, dark green pants and in his hands rested a cane, perfectly perpendicular to the floor. The man gazed out into the crowd of students neutrally through small circular glasses.

Ray felt that he knew the man, _outside_ of the usual Beacon propaganda; this was Headmaster Ozpin, you would've had to have been living under a rock to not know that. The familiarity Ray felt went much deeper than that and the boy froze when he thought that the man's eyes met with his own for a brief moment.

Ozpin was droning on about something to do with wasted energy and potential. Potential energy? Who knows? Ray wasn't listening, merely observing the man, analysing him. If he _had_ a scroll, Ray's mind didn't detect it. It was either off, elsewhere, or extremely well protected.

Finally losing interest in the Headmaster, he turned his attention to the middle-aged woman next to him as she began issuing out orders – sleeping arrangements, tomorrow's events etc.

All of that garbage went straight through one ear and right out the other.

The woman in question had very light-blonde hair tied back in a bun with a curl hanging down the right side of her face. Her eyes - hidden behind a pair of ovular shaped glasses perched on the bridge of her nose - were tinted an emerald green colour and they held that type of no-nonsense approach as she addressed the students. She wore a white long-sleeved, pleated top that had a wide keyhole neckline and gauntlet cuffs that passively flared in pleats at the wrist.

The woman was either completely oblivious to the cleavage she displayed or simply just didn't give a damn.

Her lower body was covered by a black high-waisted pencil skirt with bronze buttons and around her neck hung a black cape with a violet interior – something Ray _actually_ liked about the woman's attire. He couldn't see the back of the cape entirely, but if Ray had to guess, there would most likely be a symbol of some kind.

A special trinket all Huntsmen wore to differentiate themselves from the others.

Ray's father owned one, one forgotten to the boy and time itself.

And, since Ray never intended on attending this godforsaken hellhole in the first place, he never truly designed one for himself either.

He hummed to himself as he mulled over that thought. In order to better blend in, he _may_ have to design something to symbolise himself.

He dismissed that train of thought as it arrived and departed. Turning his attention back to the stage.

Ray noticed something; the blonde woman was the same one the hacker had tuned out as he sat inside the airship, the one that practically _emitted_ authority like radiation. Her name was Glynda Goodwitch if his memory served him correctly and Ray knew from the get-go that he would _not_ see eye-to-eye with her.

After the student body was dismissed, Ray found himself lost in terms of what he should do or where he should go. Curfew was at 9, and the clock on his scroll informed him that it was only 2.

This begged the question; how was he meant to occupy himself for _7 hours_?

Ray sighed for what was possibly the twentieth time in the span of an hour and decided that maybe some wandering around the grounds would keep his short attention span occupied long enough to prevent boredom from settling in and driving him crazy.

"I hate you so much, Lylac." He grumbled as he aimlessly walked along a cobblestone path flanked by a wide variety of fauna.

He mindlessly kept walking whilst fiddling with his scroll, subconsciously however, he felt like he was being watched.

At first, he ignored it, but the sensation only grew more niggling over time. Eventually, as Ray found himself more and more distanced from the vast majority of the students, he began to hear a pair of footsteps ever-so-slightly out of sync with his, directly behind him.

A smirk crossed his face as he knew what he was going to do, his feet hit the floor following the regular pattern of left, right, left, right.

Then he suddenly stopped, his left foot hovering just above the ground _and_ as luck would have it, whoever was masking the sound of their footsteps beneath his own did not expect him to stop so abruptly and the sound of scuffling could be heard as whomever was tailing him was confused.

Not to mention very bad at trying to stay inconspicuous.

"You're good," Ray complimented them, his eyes still fixated on his scroll and his back still facing the stalker. "But in order to tail someone as close as you have been for the past five minutes and forty-two seconds, you'll have to get better."

Subtly, he scanned the individual's scroll using his own and got an identity almost immediately. The boy hummed in curiosity before spinning on his heel and facing the one who followed him.

" _So_ , Scarlet Rubine," He stated bemusedly as his eyebrow raised. When he met the crimson eyes of the same girl from the amphitheatre, his lips curled up into a smirk.

"Care to tell me what you want?"

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Surprise! I actually uploaded this week!**

 **Anyway, seems Ray has a stalker, huh? I wonder what this Scarlet wants from Ray?**

 **You can find out next week though. Possibly the weekend.**

 **Nevertheless, _Follow, Favourite_ and _Review._ It helps me sleep at night, honestly.**

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


	3. Chapter 3

**{Code: Red}**

The small, red-haired girl that stood approximately three metres in front of Ray was shrouded in guilt. Crimson eyes _deliberately_ looking anywhere else but his own.

Ray placed his scroll in his pocket and folded his arms. " _Well_ …?"

Scarlet looked like she just wanted to run and to be honest, Ray wouldn't have stopped her.

He _did_ find this all _highly_ entertaining however.

Especially so, considering the girl's face blew up in a furious blush, both her cheeks and forehead flushing to the point where it looked like her face would explode. From his brief exposure, he could tell the girl was timid, however _this_ was just glorious.

However...

A few moments of painstakingly awkward silence was all it took for Ray to become bored once more.

The hacker sighed. "Well," he began, " _Alright_ then, whatever suits you best."

He shrugged and turned back around with the intention of leaving the clearly embarrassed girl where she was as he continued on with his day.

He didn't have the time to fuck around with the socially inept – highly hypocritical of him given his long track record of having literally _one_ friend – he had many other things he could be doing to kill time.

Scarlet, on the other hand, had other plans. "W-Wait!" She called to him in a pleading voice.

 _Ah, just the paradigm of confidence, this one._

Ray groaned in a mixture of both utter boredom and annoyance.

 _Who_ was she? _What_ did she want? And _why_ now?

Shaking his head, he increased the speed at which he walked away from the persistent pursuer.

"P-please! Wait!"

Even faster did his legs pick up speed. Ray had actually began to beseech the sky for a divine intervention at this point. Hoping - no - _praying_ that she'd go away.

He could hear her footsteps as she jogged towards him, trying to catch up as he worked his way through the bountiful gardens of the academy. Too bad he didn't have the time to acquire a better view of the resident fauna there.

"Please! I just want to tal-" Ray stopped walking on a whim and the pest, Scarlet - too predictable for her own good - slammed into his back and fell to the ground.

Slowly, he turned around to glare at the girl sat on the floor in a dazed, confused heap.

 _Both confident and graceful_.

"What. Do. You. Want?"

The tone of his voice made Scarlet once more shrink under the pressure.

It was _too easy_ for Ray, pretend to be furious, though in reality he _was_ pretty irritated, and the girl would crumble like wet sand.

As predictable as the twelfth hour.

" _Really?_ You're just going to crawl back inside your shell? Even _after_ following me and begging me to stop, you're just going to cower away and seal your lips? Seriously, what the hell do you want, woman?" Impertinence was embedded into every syllable Ray spoke, this was exhausting him and the novelty of scaring the girl was wearing very thin.

Still, the girl only stared at him from behind a thin veil of fear.

Before Ray had the notion to formulate a secondary escape attempt, he bit down on his grit and extended his hand.

"C'mon, get off of the floor, you look ridiculous." Scarlet's eyes only studied the purple, fingerless glove Ray had offered her, sheepishly staring at it as if it was some kind of trick.

Ray broke eye contact for a moment to glance around at the small group of students looking their way before locking his eyes with Scarlet's again.

"People are _staring,_ Scarlet. I don't have all day."

Eventually, her small hand found itself locked with his and he effortlessly pulled her up.

Ray looked at her for a spare moment before turning on his heel and walking in the same direction he was prior to stopping.

Scarlet's frame deflated as she thought he was going to ditch her again.

"You coming? I haven't got all day, remember."

Her confused daze was dismissed with a shake of her head.

"O-okay!" She cried, though her response could have also been classed as a whimper from the easily agitated Huntress hopeful.

She may have lost her confidence, but she soon found her feet as they carried her towards the retreating boy ahead of her.

* * *

Both Ray and his new, self-proclaimed friend – she had declared that not five minutes after Ray picked her sorry ass up off of the floor – found themselves sat inside the cafeteria. It was 7pm, giving him plenty of time to drop an excuse and ditch the girl when it came to bedtime.

One thing had been made clear over the past five hours; Ray _seriously_ failed to understand Scarlet Rubine.

One moment she could be as timid as a mouse in snake territory. The next thing he knew, her personality would pull a complete 180; turning her into a _completely_ different person, speaking to him nonchalantly as if she'd known the boy for years.

She didn't, for the record, no one possessed that privilege but Ly.

Ray's only replies were a chorus of _mhm_ 's and _yeah_ 's as Scarlet spoke her mind, seemingly speaking without the need for oxygen.

The girl was completely oblivious to the level of apathy he was expressing, only stopping periodically to take a sip of her _fourth_ carton of milk in the past _ten minutes_ before once more motor-mouthing to him about nonsensical and downright irrelevant things.

It was headache-inducing, Ray _actually_ downed a pair of painkillers mid-conversation with her as he propped his head up with his hand as his elbow rested on the table, half listening, half daydreaming.

" _So_ , as I was saying," the girl's soft-spoken voice had been the _only_ thing he had listened to for five hours straight.

He watched as she set her carton down and resumed speaking. "I really, _really_ wanna pass the test because otherwise if I don't, my entire seven and a half years of extensive training would have all been for nothing and I'm just really worried that if I _don't_ get in, then my mom and dad won't ever see themselves in me and I'll just be noth-"

"Scarlet..." Ray made an attempt at gaining her attention, but evidently, the girl was too focused on belittling herself.

"-ing to them but a huge waste of time and-"

" _Scarlet_ -" Ray had no interest in hearing about how low she thought of herself.

It was depressing.

"-I'll probably fulfil my aunt's expectations of being the runt of the litter and-"

Ray had finally heard enough of her self-loathing speech, not only did it put a huge downer on the atmosphere of the room – not like anyone else was listening – it also made Ray's headache worse.

" _Scarlet!_ " Ray cried, slamming the palm of his hand on the table in exasperation.

Ray's yell sent the entire cafeteria into a deafening silence and Scarlet's face immediately changed as she adorned a shocked expression.

He exhaled heavily as he returned his hand to its position under his chin.

"You really need to chill." Ray's words came out slow and lethargic, a stark contrast to his momentary outburst, the boy looked at her with half-closed eyes.

"I understand that you're anxious about the initiation, but _trust me,_ with the amount of syllables you can spit out in ten seconds, you could probably kill Grimm out of boredom alone."

The Rubine progeny, or at least one of them from what Ray gathered, was unsure of how to react, however, she took his half-assed insult in stride and gave him a meek smile.

"I like you, Ray. I hope we get to be on a team together." Violet eyes widened as her sincerity surprised him enough to even make him raise an eyebrow.

"You want _me_? On _your_ team?" He questioned in disbelief, chortling as he did so and receiving a nod in response.

"Even though you realise that I honestly haven't found anything you've said to me _all day_ to be worthy of any real interest?"

Scarlet nodded again and her smile widened by a fraction.

"Absolutely!" She chirped. "I mean, I know I don't know you that much – _well_ , I don't know you at _all,_ really – I think you'd make a great teammate, you're _kind~,_ you're a great _listener~"_ Scarlet listed these 'traits' of his on her left hand before Ray suddenly shot up in attention and held up his hand to pause her.

"Wait, wait! Did you just say _'kind'?_ " He asked incredulously as he narrowed his eyes.

 _She's got to be crazy, right?_

Scarlet actually grinned. "Yeah! You're the kindest person I've met today!"

 _What?_

"You've gotta be kidding me, I've _literally_ just told you that I did not care about anything you have said to me in the five hours of company you forced upon my poor soul. How can _I_ be the kindest person you've met today?"

Scarlet's frame deflated slightly as her grin receded into a frown. Where her eyes were really bright just moments before, they were now displaying an entourage of saturnine emotions.

Ray didn't take long to put two and two together.

"Have… people been... picking on you or something?" He asked, his voice much more tame than it was before.

A few brief moments of silence passed before Scarlet slowly inhaled.

"I'm... used to it..." The girl murmured solemnly, her eyes blankly staring at the wooden grain of the dining table.

 _Oh. That's not good._

The tone her voice adopted was incredibly sobering for Ray. All day had he wanted nothing more than to be rid of the girl, but he didn't have a clue as to _why_ she was following him in the first place.

Obviously, curiosity boiled in his mind as she continued to cling to him, but now? Knowing that a victim of _bullying_ followed him around because he was possibly the only person that didn't feel the necessity to harshly talk down to her and make her feel completely unwanted – believe it or not – made the whole situation almost heartbreaking.

If he had a heart to break.

He couldn't help it – in fact, he felt ashamed of himself for doing so – but he _almost_ felt like he could relate to Scarlet in a sense.

No friends, lack of confidence, clinging to a single individual, and never setting foot outside of her comfort zone. Traits Ray once suffered with a long time ago, right there in front of him, stuck to Scarlet Rubine like moths to a flame.

This girl _hated_ herself.

All because she was susceptible to being harassed, talked down to, mocked, and hurt by the 'bigger fish'.

Ray hated that. Bullies were something he despised, loathed beyond all else, thus he had taken up the responsibility of hunting them down and making them pay for their crimes. A job he took very, _very_ seriously.

Scarlet Rubine was a small, timid girl, trying her best to fill some pretty big shoes and all the while, trying to remain true to herself.

A respectable task for someone of her stature. However, this bought the attention of sadists. Assholes who believe that their balls are so big that it grants them a god-given right to pick on her and treat her like absolute filth, just for trying to accomplish her goals and striving to follow her aspirations.

 _No one_ deserved that.

Ray wouldn't wish that on his _worst enemy_ , let alone a complete stranger.

No fucking _wonder_ as to why Ray scared her in the amphitheatre, his snappy attitude probably made her think that he was _one_ of them.

And the boy had to be honest here; nothing else made him feel more disgusted.

"You know," Ray's sonorous voice dispersed the silence between them with ease, "I'm sure you'll do great in the initiation. Gods know you didn't get here out of luck alone, so you must have _some_ skill, right?"

His diversionary tactic to steer the girl away from dark thoughts seemed to have slightly succeeded, her head perked up and she made eye contact with him once more.

"Y-yeah… I _guess_..." She shrugged.

Ray shook his head in disapproval. "You _guess_? C'mon Scarlet, no one gets into Beacon because they guess they have skill, they get into Beacon because they _know_ they have skill. Judging by your – no offence – tiny, but muscular build, I'm gonna take a shot in the dark here and assume that you prefer using polearms, correct?"

A nod from the crimsonette confirmed this assumption.

"So, you want to tell me what your weapon can do? Or do I have to cheat and look it up myself?"

It was working, Scarlet's mood had improved, if not by much, then at least enough for her to resume speaking to him normally.

Eventually, her jovial attitude settled back in as they discussed her weapon in detail. Scarlet was incredibly passionate about her double-bladed bardiche, Crimson Brigade _,_ and Ray could see why.

The weapon's blade alone used an alloy he had never seen before, Vacuan titanium, pretty rare stuff if his memory served him correctly, not to mention professionally forged Vacuan titanium not only holds its edge extremely well, but its density allows it to _effortlessly_ cut through most other materials – extreme cases include Dust and Aura reinforced blades.

It wasn't cheap either, the rare element cost upwards of three to four thousand Lien per kilogram. This is due to the naturally occurring element fusing with minute amounts of Dust from veins lying dormant under Vacuo's hazardous deserts.

It was almost miraculous, how the molten metal would collide with these veins, introducing it to Remnant's energy propellant and the long cooling process - which could take up to one-hundred years - would permanently adhere the Dust to the metal.

This also meant that no two ingots of Vacuan titanium were the same and - depending on the type of Dust it was infused with - drastically varied in price.

Scarlet's bardiche was one of the rarer variants, the metal was found in a deposit of Gravity Dust. This made the blade heavier, but its density meant that it's cutting power and durability was far superior to most others.

Crimson Brigade was by far one of the more impressive weapons he had seen today, the mechanical properties alone giving him a run for his money, but Scarlet's weapon also had range to it, as well.

Aside from the bardiche, it doubled as a repeating cannon. A rectangular slot approximately halfway down the shaft was used to fit magazines that held fourteen 15mm high-explosive shells.

The thing was a powerhouse and a work of art.

The fact it came packaged with a 5'2" timid girl, too pressured into making her parents proud, was almost comically ironic.

When they left the cafeteria, Scarlet had actually shown Crimson Brigade to Ray, allowing the boy to get a good look (and scan) of the weapon before handing it back to her. Not before accidentally cutting himself on its extremely sharp edge.

Ray - with his index finger in his mouth - subtly admired the way the weapon receded into a baton, the blades folding inwards and concealing the barrel of the integrated cannon before the entire shaft collapsed in on itself, allowing it to be much more easily carried on the belt around her waist.

Speaking of her attire, Ray never really paid much attention to the clothes Scarlet wore until the pair actually began engaging in a two-sided conversation.

Scarlet wore an armoured, carmine sleeveless tunic that extended to just below the waist. A pair of black tails on the rear also fell to just below her knees and on the rear was a small keyhole revealing a portion of her upper back and shoulder blades.

Ray noted the lack of chest support...

Below the waist, a pair of form-fitting, black leather pants reached the middle of her calves and each leg had a darker, cherry red strip running down the length at the sides. Her footwear consisted of black, red laced combat boots and a Templar cross badge was secured to the tongue of each boot, the cross was red with a black outlining and appeared to made of metal.

Her accessories consisted of what could be considered as a black utility belt; holding her weapon, a couple of magazines for said weapon, a carabiner for grappling or abseiling, a reel of steel wire, and a multi-tool kit.

Around her neck was a black chain with a pendant attached to it. The pendant was in the shape of an eye, white in colour, that had the same red Templar cross situated in the centre, where the iris was.

Ray figured that any doubt Scarlet had in herself was clearly misallocated, he wasn't sure if he had seen anyone else more prepared than this girl – he knew he wasn't. Even through her timid shell, he could tell that she was resourceful, if nothing else.

A small recess in the back of his mind held a sense of relief that he had actually taken the time to get to know her somewhat and maybe, _just maybe_ , he would get to see her during the initiation test tomorrow.

Though he had to remind himself of why he was here in the first place.

All that mattered was that last piece. Ray could not afford to make attachments, even if a small part of his conscious wanted to. The less connected he was to his peers during his stay in Beacon, the easier it would be to make his retreat.

This place was not his home and these people were not his crowd.

For all the good Ly said it would do him, he felt that making friends here would also be creating anchors to stay. He had a job to do, he couldn't afford to hold himself back.

Not with the daunting responsibility resting on his shoulders...

The pair entered the ballroom where the initiates were all beginning to settle down, it was 8PM and the lights went out at 9, so he had more than enough time to reserve a quiet spot in the hall to bunker down for the night and rest, Gods knew he needed it.

What tomorrow had to bring for Ray Chroma was a mystery, he just hoped he would make it out alive. Though he knew that his training would grant him that right. Even if he never asked for it in the first place.

 _All in due time, I suppose._

He bid Scarlet goodnight as he claimed a spot under the stairs, shielding himself from what little light the moon offered and he passed out on his sleeping bag in full clothing, minus his jacket and gauntlets.

He never was the most graceful of sleepers.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Ray always sleeps in full clothing, never changes his attire and always has his beanie attached to his head.**

 **Whether you chalk that down to laziness or efficiency - considering he has multiple items of the same clothing, save his jacket - is your choice.**

 **What's most interesting is how one of the biggest hermits on Remnant ended up stuck with an incredibly small and clingy pest.**

 **That should end well, huh?**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, feel free to give it a Favourite and/or a Follow.**

 **And _please,_ give me a Review, it's nice to read your opinions, whether they be positive or negative.**

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


	4. Chapter 4

**{Glitch in the System}**

Morning came and Ray was awoken by the blissful embrace of an angel.

(Scarlet found his resting place and frantically shook him awake.)

He gracefully sat up and wiped away the grit in his eyes before greeting the aforementioned angel in a gentle and kind manner.

(He violently bolted upright, smacked himself in the face to wake himself up and harshly admonished Scarlet for waking him, scaring the girl in front of anyone still remaining inside the ballroom.)

Ray then eased out of his sleeping bag, expressed his gratitude to the angel for her blessed presence, dressed himself neatly, and made his way to the cafeteria for a delicious breakfast.

(He realised he was running late, shoved Scarlet to one side, threw his messenger bag and gauntlets on, and ran to the cafeteria to grab only an apple and a ridiculously hot cup of coffee. Downing the liquid fire and finishing the apple in three huge bites before throwing away the core.)

All in all, the morning of the initiation was going very smoothly.

(Ray was late and ran like hell to the Beacon cliffs with Scarlet tailing just behind him.)

Very smoothly indeed.

(Ray wanted to end his life there and then.)

* * *

The 40 or so students stood on dull metal plates on the ground. Ray, despite his best efforts, was forced to stand next to Scarlet as they were late to the initiation by a couple of minutes, luckily no one else noticed, but still, he was hardly a fan of being second to last to go. He looked down the line of students, taking note of each and trying to weed out any competition.

Only two caught his eye; possibly the angriest looking guy Ray had ever seen in his life – that was saying something – and what could have been his sister or whatever. The hacker shook his head, the calmest expression sat firmly on the guy's face like cement. His body language seemed serene and collected, but in his eyes, it looked like he wanted to murder a man.

"Well, someone's happy..." He murmured to no one in particular, Scarlet glanced in the direction of the individual Ray was referring to and visibly grimaced.

"I don't think he wants to be here..." She replied softly. Her eyes darting between Ray and the boy.

Ray rolled his eyes. "That makes _two_ of us."

Ozpin – in Ray's opinion – gave a pointless speech about 'testing your prowess'. Well, something along those lines anyway. Ray's attention span was far too short to listen to painfully cryptic or downright boring lectures. He was pretty focused on that one (potential) student though…

 _Look at him! He's like the physical embodiment of repressed rage._

Ray's mind ran rampant with similar apt descriptions of this modern cowboy. However, his musings were cut short by his selective hearing tuning in to catch putrid sack of authority, Glynda Goodwitch, as she began to speak.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumours about the assignment of teams,"

Ray shook his head. "Well, no, not really." He scoffed, muttering the remark under his breath.

"Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates… today."

" _Oh joy_."

If Ray had kept his mouth shut, he _would_ have heard someone groaning, but no, his pride and inability to hold his tongue prevented that.

It was the Headmaster that continued for his lapdog. "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon,"

 _Ah, so two weeks then?_

"So, it is in your best interest if you paired with someone with whom you can work well."

 _Pretty typical of you to be saying that, Ozpin. You are clearly well trained in the art of stating the fucking obvious, aren't you?_

Ray's eyes practically rolled to the back of his skull.

" _Someone with whom you can work well_. Yeah, no shit." He mumbled mockingly, unintentionally earning a giggle from Scarlet next to him. He spared the girl one of his infamous glares before he turned once again to pay attention to the coffee addict.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

" _What?!_ " Screamed the second red-clad child that stood on the cliff. Ray noted to himself that it was probably in his best interest to avoid any further crimson-coloured girls in the near future for the sake of his sanity.

Ozpin completely disregarded the desperate cry for attention and nonchalantly carried on.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way."

Ray took a moment to roll up the sleeves of his jacket, revealing his brushed aluminium vambraces to the world, and Scarlet, as Ray saw her gawk at them from the edge of his peripheral vision.

"Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path-"

 _Apparently, misery incarnate has other ideas. Whatever could possibly be going on inside his head right now?_

Ray, Scarlet and the entirety of the other students on the cliff carefully observed the boy as he stepped off of his panel and approached the edge of the cliff, stopping just beforehand.

"Mister Ezdeil, where do you think you are going?" Questioned by the disciplinarian, the walking definition of resentment replied with a short, apathetic "Walking" as he remained standing by the edge.

Ray smiled slightly at the endeavour.

 _This guy does not give a fuck._

"You would be at a disadvantage young man," Ozpin countered reasonably, "these catapults launch you eighty metres into the forest if you do nothing."

Ray cocked an eyebrow. _Eighty metres you say?_

"If you have a flight strategy, the wind will carry you much further than that. Do you not wish to use an advantage like that?"

Ray leaned toward Scarlet. "Clearly not, no. I'm interested to see where this goes."

"I don't need one."

Ray's amused smirk grew wider at the remark. Whoever this guy was, it was piquing Ray's interest to new heights.

Just the way this suave, albeit incredibly monotonous character was dismissing the faculty's concerns as if they were but mere annoyances was truly a spectacle.

 _I take it back; this guy has never given a fuck in his life._

"Mister Ezdeil, please-"

"Glynda, let him be. No student in the past has done what he's done just now. I believe we should let him go."

 _Not only is he a lethargic, slightly abrasive, condescending asshole, but also a history maker._

 _Oh! And he's just jumped off the cliff!_

Ray's amusement died off after the coat the individual wore disappeared over the edge of the cliff, the remainder of the students – save himself, Scarlet and the girl that once stood next to 'Mister Ezdeil' - burst into a cacophony of whispering.

Ray redirected his attention to the panel beneath him and crouched down, placing a hand on the metal surface, examining it.

"What are you doing?" Scarlet sheepishly enquired.

"Ozpin just said these catapults were designed to send us a minimum distance of eighty metres into the forest, I intend to correct that." Came his cool reply, never once diverting his gaze from the plate.

"I-Isn't that cheating...?" Scarlet questioned, eyes darting around before refocusing on Ray.

The boy's violet eyes contained a spark of mischief as he spared her a momentary glance. "Only if you get caught."

With a pulse of his Aura, he summoned a thin line of pure hard light out of the tip of his index finger. The line widened and morphed into a cone shape, with the wider base touching the surface of the panel beneath him.

With consecutive pulses of his Aura, the cone brightened and dimmed in one second intervals. It was a probing tool, used to scan the inside of machines to scope out the layout for Ray like a sonar.

"Ah… I see..." He mumbled as he scanned the interior of the catapult.

"S-see what?" Scarlet replied, biting her nails in anticipation.

"It's all mechanical, no digital aspect here. Not to worry though, I know what to do." With that, four more strands of hard light appeared from each remaining fingertip. The probing tool also reformed into the same shape and each of the cables soon wormed their way inside the complex machinery, hijacking it through the seams. Ray closed his eyes and focused, he needed to locate the spring or the gear mechanism used to coil it. If he could take control of that, he could compress the spring manually and release it just before it hits its maximum elasticity threshold. The potential energy stored would launch him way, _way_ further than _eighty pathetic metres_.

Flight strategies were for the weak.

Once he grabbed hold of the gear responsible for coiling the spring, his strands of hard light formed into a wrench-like tool, locking on to the teeth of the gear and beginning to turn it slowly.

As he began to wind up the spring, the other catapults had begun launching initiates into the air, starting from left to right. Mister Ezdeil's empty catapult fired first, then came his unnamed associate, followed by every other student in an orderly fashion.

As Ray was second to last on the right of the cliff, he had plenty of time to wind up the spring before it prematurely launched him.

"Excuse me, Mister..." Goodwitch spared a moment to glance at the scroll held in her hands, trying to discern the name of the boy she intended to question. ..."Chroma?"

Ray froze and slowly turned his head in the direction of both Ozpin and Goodwitch, several pairs of eyes also found themselves looking upon his prone position.

" _Yes~?_ " Came his slow and hesitant reply as he stood up, his hard-light cables still turning the gear like a damn wind-up toy.

Ozpin's eyes locked with Ray's as the man merely raised an eyebrow.

"Do you mind explaining to me what you're doing to your catapult?" The man's assistant asked the hacker scornfully.

Ray shrugged. "Well… currently, I am coiling the spring beneath this plate to the point where if I turn the priming mechanism any further, the ratchet responsible for holding the gear in place would suffer a critical failure and the potential energy stored inside the spring would instantly break my legs."

Ozpin raised his eyebrow further. "Are you sure that's a wise decision, young man?"

"No, in fact, it's incredibly stupid and reckless, but you said so yourself that it would only launch us eighty metres into the forest sans a flight strategy – which I do not possess – and y'know, since showing off is the flavour of the day, I thought ' _screw it, why not?_ "

Ozpin cracked a smirk.

"Mister Chroma, you must understand that this is forbidden, tampering with the catapult has the potential to not only damage it, but harm yourself and those around you, please safely release the spring and-"

"Oh! Too late! Spring is ready. Gotta go. _Cya!_ " Goodwitch did not take too kindly to Ray's impertinent interruption, sparing him a scowl before the five beams of light erupting from his fingertips suddenly shattered into a brilliant shower of violet sparks when he clenched his fist, and the boy was launched from the cliff with the explosive force of a grenade.

Honestly, he'd have been better off rocket jumping.

Remains of the catapult were scattered atop the cliff like shrapnel, some parts hitting the other students, others falling into the forest below.

As for Ray, however…

* * *

I did _not_ think this through.

My legs – surprised to say I still had them – hurt like a bitch. I _seriously_ miscalculated the force that spring contained.

Not only was I going possibly _four times faster_ than the catapult was originally designed for, I was also soaring through the air at twice the height too.

This gave me ample opportunity to pluck my scroll from my pocket and clock my speed in.

One-hundred and forty-two miles per hour, not quite the speeds I had hoped for, but it was good enough. I didn't take wind resistance and its effects into account, so realistically, it should have been expected.

Still, my objective had yet to be located and marked on my HUD before I found myself a partner.

I managed to spot a couple different landmarks while I was still approaching the apex of my trajectory; a bridge connected seamlessly to a series of tall, stone towers, followed by a small plain with pillars idly littered either side. For what purpose they served had me confused, it didn't matter though.

They probably served as much use as a waterproof teabag.

I also spotted and marked the location of a semi-circular set of ruins, I couldn't see it well given my altitude and distance, but I marked it under the suspicion that it was my destination.

Once I hit the peak of my flight, I felt the planet's gravitational pull politely remind me that I was _not meant_ to fly, thus my sudden and sharp descent into the forest floor began.

I had a few cards to play in regards to my landing strategy.

Whilst I could just divebomb into the ground like a damn asteroid, it would most certainly end up in a very pitiful and _messy_ demise. I had no intention of becoming a pink smear across the Emerald Forest, thank you.

Alternatively, I could try to aim for a tree, wrap a couple of hard light chains around it and hope for the best, again though, the likelihood of my survival was greatly underwhelming.

Thus, I was brought to my final and safest option; place my head between my legs, and kiss my ass goodbye.

I'm kidding of course, I'm not a fucking pussy.

Siphoning light into my gauntlets – Darkstar and Helix – I filled their capacitors up with as much of my semblance's energy as I could, effectively charging them up like batteries as I approached the ground at an alarming rate.

Remember: It's not the fall that kills you, it's the sudden stop at the end.

Once the gauntlets had reached maximum capacity, I shot my arms out to the side and a series of hard light cables dispersed into the tree line, piercing through the wood like bullets from a rifle as they latched onto anything and everything before anchoring themselves in place.

What I was attempting to accomplish was essentially a reversed slingshot, where instead of launching me forward, the cables tensing would slow my fall instead. However, hard light was not known to be very tensile – the effort was working to rapidly decrease my speed, but I could feel wire after wire snap under the extreme exertion they were placed under.

It worked though, by the Gods did it work. Though my landing wasn't as smooth as butter, I did land with both of my legs intact, rolling as I hit the ground to break my fall entirely.

It wasn't graceful, it wasn't majestic, but it got the job done, and in the real world, that's all that fucking matters, really.

* * *

Ray slowly stood up from his crouched position and patted his jacket to rid it of any stray particulate.

His beanie was readjusted on his head and he doubled checked the strap around his left shoulder, reassuring himself that his invaluable messenger bag and by extension, the items it contained, were intact.

The boy sighed in relief, not only because he didn't die before encountering any Grimm, but he also managed to do something he had prayed would happen ever since yesterday.

Scarlet wasn't here.

Which meant Ray might have finally lost her.

Hopefully, she will find herself a nice partner that actually gives a damn and keeps as far away from Ray as possible. Yeah, she might have been bullied and was using him for some kind of comfort, but that wasn't _his_ problem now, was it?

Ray carefully analysed his immediate vicinity to be sure that he hadn't landed in some kind of Grimm nest. Luckily, he hadn't, but as his eyes scanned the lush, green environment he felt as though the forest was seriously lacking in variety.

Green stretched as far as the eye can see, the only breaks in this pattern were the umber bark of the oak trees surrounding him and the occasional flower dotted erratically throughout the forest floor.

Scents were as bland as one would expect from a forest, the slight tinge of moss accumulating at the roots of the trees, the clean, fresh air provided by the giants themselves as they underwent their daily process of photosynthesis.

The rotten stench of Grimm that harboured in this area, prowling around as if they _owned_ the place...

Sounds were as dull as the smells were, the light, cordial singing of birds perching in the highest branches, asserting their vocal dominance with the intention of mating or showing off and other calls from the various other resident creatures significantly drowned out by their avian counterparts.

It was all pretty generic in terms of how a forest was meant to be portrayed, absolutely nothing out of the ordinary as far as Ray was concerned.

 _Save for the gunfire in the distance..._

The hacker dusted the cobwebs out of his mind and focused, he needed to get to the so-called 'artefacts' before anyone else could have a chance at finding him and slowing him down. He didn't have the time to sight-see, the mission was far too important.

A long time ago, Ray would have once cursed and hated his father for illegally implanting several different computer parts, logic boards and wireless transmitters inside his head - not to mention the transparent screens placed directly inside his cornea.

It was those screens in question that gave Ray the unseen advantage of real-time tactical feedback, biometric and environmental analysis readings _and_ come with the added bonus of the time, date and coordinates of his location. Only _he_ could see the augmented reality projections they casted.

Since Ray was not built to brute force his way through everything, his best option would be to try to avoid hostile contact at least until he made it to the objective. From the information displayed on his HUD, the assumed temple was 1.7km from his current location, meaning he had quite the jog ahead of him.

A jog he was not looking forward to.

* * *

Scarlet's landing went rather well. Considering Crimson Brigade wasn't exactly the most versatile of weapons, the way she managed to stab it into a tree and effectively corkscrew around the trunk was incredibly impressive for a girl of her stature.

To the outside world, she was a complete train wreck of a person, with social situations being very much outside her comfort zone.

As the youngest of six, she had a lot of expectations to live up to as a warrior. She had to be fearless, strong, intelligent and quick. All qualities she openly admitted to not possessing.

Hence why she had decided to stick to that boy in the amphitheatre. Despite his sour attitude and the way he constantly tried to dismiss her, Ray still allowed her to tag along.

This was why she had to find him.

In her eyes, Ray was the living definition of the warrior her parents wanted, if she could find him and – hopefully – team up with the boy, she would be able to learn from him and become exactly what her parents expect of her.

 _That, and he is kinda cute._

She blushed at that thought.

Scarlet wasted no time in dismantling everything in her path to get to Ray. Trees, shrubs, Grimm... Even _other students_ would be nothing to her but a minor obstacle on her way to finding him.

She didn't see him land, but she _did_ see in which direction he flew, which meant she had a rough idea of where he could be.

 _If_ her calculations were correct, she was only a 20-minute run from his location.

And _boy_ did she run.

* * *

The beowolves were just as much prey to Ray as he was to them.

Their claws, known for being incredibly sharp and dense, were nothing in comparison to the condensed light blade Ray twirled in his hands.

It was made out of photons, weightless and could shred through most metals like they were wet tissue paper. These blades were Ray's true weapons; infinite in number and should one become shattered; a replacement was always in Ray's hand within seconds.

Ray held the line in front of the small squad of these poor werewolf imitations, analysing every move, calculating his next steps. His violet eyes tracking their amalgamated amber and reds.

All five of these beasts were searching for fear, hostility or anything else they could feed off of, Ray would deny them such a treat.

Suddenly, the smallest of the group – a new-born, freshly generated from the pits of hell itself – decided today was a great day to attack the son of Orion Chroma.

What a monumental mistake that was…

Two strikes.

That was all Ray needed to reduce the black mass of fur and teeth into a rotting corpse. Its comrades not even batting an eyelid in response to the freshling's final whine in defeat.

A pitiful demise to a pitiful creature.

It was as easy as kicking a blind puppy. Beowolves were ridiculously stupid, even some of the Alphas weren't worth the time of day it took to kill them.

At least that's how Ray saw it.

Ray smirked and twirled his sword in a taunting gesture. "Anyone _else?_ "

His smug remark worked to aggravate the remaining four Grimm, three Minors and a Major, all a waste of the oxygen it took to sustain their meagre bodies.

His blade crackled and sparked with invigoration as he fed it with more light to intensify its stopping power.

He didn't need the boost, the blade was more than sufficient to kill these animals, but Ray hadn't the chance to let go like this in a while, and with all this surplus light energy his body had accumulated over a downtime period of three weeks, he needed to burn it off.

What better opportunity was there than to waste it all on these four, insignificant beowolves?

 _It's not like anyone would miss them, is it?_

Soon, the Major began barking orders to the three Minors, grunts and snarls communicating in a manner unlike most Grimm. To their credit, beowolves were actually capable of performing organised attacks, usually an Alpha leading Majors and their squad of Minors. It was clear these ones were attempting a strategy that was as pointless as it was hilarious.

Predictably; the three Minors attempted to flank Ray, slowly stalking around him so that they could either:

A: Leap towards him in one synchronous motion and have all three of their bodies bisected in a single arced swing.

Or, B: Actually _try_ to play things smart and attempt hit-and-run tactics in order to keep Ray distracted long enough for _one_ of them – most likely the Major – to catch him by surprise when he's most vulnerable.

Sadly, it was the former, and three more disintegrating bodies hit the ground to join the new-born from earlier.

Ray turned his head and gazed into the Major's eyes.

"Do you call this a fight? _Please_ , don't waste my time." He openly mocked the dark being before him, knowing the only reply he would receive is a growl from the primitive creature.

The beast snarled at him with bared fangs. Black, tar-like drool secreted out of the creature's hideous maw, splattering the ground and staining the grassy clearing.

"Are you going to idle all day?" Ray turned his whole body to face the beast in a threatening pose. Challenging it with a casual demeanour. "Or are you going to take the hint and _run?_ "

The beowolf didn't move, its blood-craved eyes still locked on Ray with every intent to rip and bite into his flesh, yet it didn't so much as twitch to sate its prime directive.

Matted fur, blacker than a thousand midnights, swayed slightly in the light breeze sweeping between them. Bone plating jutted in annoyingly irregular segments out of its flesh, shrouding it in armour most swords and axes couldn't bypass, and bullets from anything smaller than a lever action rifle would just ricochet off the beast's thick, leathery hide. Its skin was tougher than Kevlar, something it only _wished_ was an unfair advantage.

The perfect killing machine, that's what the councils dubbed them.

It was a joke. This dull creature, known only for its killer instinct and _not_ its intelligence, was one of the deadliest entities known to mankind.

Mankind was just as pathetic as this thing if they saw it as a force to be reckoned with.

Ray had seen worse. Compared to Dremoha, this Major was a child's plaything, though, that was nothing compared to Omegas though.

His father's journal mentioned how they were massive, dwarfing everything and possessing the power to wipe out _entire civilisations_ in a single instant. Only _one_ was ever spotted in recorded history, and it managed to obliterate an entire kingdom in less than a day.

The kingdom's name however, was lost to time, much like the recordings and scriptures of the Omega.

To this day, that Omega, nor others have been spotted, but should Ray _ever_ come across one, he would do _everything_ in his power to leave this damned graveyard of a world.

Ray paid no heed to the fact that he was standing in front of this entity simply designed to kill. He honestly couldn't care less since he terminated its brethren in front of its eyes with such ease.

The thing could go _fuck itself_ as far as he was concerned.

Yet, here they both were, stood in a clearing seven-hundred metres from Ray's objective, waiting for the other to act.

"On second thought," Ray sighed as he brandished his sword in front of the offending being, "you're too ugly to let live. Nice knowing you though..."

With that, Ray conjured a pillar of light beneath his feet, propelling him up and towards the Major. He brought his blade above his head as he performed a somersault, preparing to bring it straight down on top of the beast and cleave the bastard in two.

Ray was regrettably denied this opportunity.

Scarlet's timing was _terrible,_ she charged the beowolf with her weapon in hand, swinging it to the left and twisting her body into her strike that disabled the beowolf as she attacked the creature from the rear.

With both of its hind legs dismembered. Scarlet subconsciously declared victory as she went in for the kill, except…

"SCARLET YOU _IDIOT_!"

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Ray has finally seen the infamous Niro Ezdeil for the first time in his life, and of all reactions he could give, he was merely amused.**

 **If it hasn't been made clear already, Ray has the attention span of a teaspoon and always needs to be engaged in something to stimulate his mind.**

 **Also, as if you didn't _already_ see it coming, guess who Ray's partner is?!**

 **It's fine though, I'm sure he'll manage, especially when he finally sees what she's capable of.**

 **Either way, I sincerely hope you enjoyed this chapter, I did intend for it to be uploaded on Friday, but I got caught up in some stuff.**

 **( _cough_ Overwatch _cough_ )**

 **Anyway, please Favourite, Follow and Review. It helps give me motivation to write more.**

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


	5. Chapter 5

**{Redefined}**

Ray, in a last-ditch attempt to prevent causing harm to the creature that had somehow grown attached to him in the past 24 hours, clenched his fist and shattered his light blade.

This, however, would not save the girl from being tackled to the ground like a damn ragdoll.

Gloved hands shot to Ray's head to nurse the headache that was slowly developing. As he lay there, writhing in pain, he began spitting out a string of curses that would have had Ozpin reaching for the censor button.

The beowolf wasn't dead, but in its new bipedal form, it was still much easier to kill as Scarlet – who miraculously suffered _no_ injuries and was on her feet in seconds – mercilessly stabbed Crimson Brigade's spear tip through its skull, ending it quickly.

"Great job, Scarlet. A fucking plus." Ray grumbled sarcastically as he shakily stood up. His eyes were closed and a sharp wince indicated his pained state.

"Oh my Gods! I-I'm so sorry!" She stuttered apologetically, her hands cupped over her cheeks and her face turned beet red.

Ray slowly opened his eyes and caught sight of Scarlet's vermillion pools.

Then the boy's shoulders slumped.

He _literally_ just launched himself off of a cliff at over one hundred miles per hour in order to get rid of the girl and there she was, seemingly without a partner, tracking his eyes with her own.

The hacker groaned in defeat. He was now _stuck_ with the bane of his existence whether he liked it or not.

Let's just say he felt less than content with this circumstance.

Scarlet on the other hand, despite the guilty feeling that ran through her mind from unintentionally hurting Ray's head – and pride – was absolutely elated with the situation.

They were partners now for the next four years. This meant plenty of time to get to know Ray and hopefully break him out of his conceited shell.

In her eyes, the odds couldn't have been any better, she honestly couldn't have cared less who she was teamed up with, so long as one of them was Ray.

"So, what now, _partner?_ " She asked with a huge, triumphant grin slapped across her face.

Ray cringed at the term she used to address him.

This was going to be worse than he thought…

"First of all," He began, raising his index finger to make a point, "if you ever call me that again, you can eat shit and die." Scarlet's expression faltered slightly, but her grin still remained.

"Secondly, we have to get to the temple. We are currently seven hundred metres away, which while it doesn't sound like a lot-"

"It will be made longer because of the concentration of Grimm between us and our objective!" Scarlet inadvertently blurted out before placing a finger on her chin in deep thought.

"Our best solution would probably be to avoid any hostiles if possible, but try not to deviate too far from our chosen path. A direct route would be the fastest and the most logical way to reach our objective before safely retreating back to the cliff to complete our initiation." Scarlet's mouth fired out words faster than a machine gun.

She spoke so fast, that Ray decided it wasn't worth the _effort_ to remind her that she rudely interrupted him during the middle of his sentence.

Sighing, he resigned to his fate and held out an open palm in the direction of the temple.

"After you..."

* * *

"After that display on the cliff, you'd think Mister Chroma would be more... _resistant_ to Miss Rubine's unintentional assertiveness." Glynda Goodwitch critically commented as both her and Ozpin monitored the recently formed pair.

Ozpin allowed himself to give a thoughtful hum. Ray Chroma hadn't been seen in _years_ , so as to why he was here at the Beacon initiation left much to be desired.

After his father's passing and his mother remarrying a Faunus man, the boy and his cousin, Lylac, disappeared from the world's eye. Taking with them a large sum of cash and various artefacts highly sought after by many an enthusiastic archaeologist.

To see the boy here, _now_ , was most suspicious.

"I believe there is more to be seen from this young man, Glynda. It is in our best interest to keep an eye on him. Those that go into hiding do not just spontaneously reappear without good reason."

Though the headmaster had to admit, circumstances would have needed to have been dire in order for _this_ boy to return to relevancy.

Glynda spared a moment to glance at Ozpin curiously, but chose to say nothing when the man refused to reciprocate the action.

"I never pegged him as a hide and seek champion, if I do say so myself. But his appearance certainly has you concerned, doesn't it?" The blonde woman questioned, her expression neutral, yet her voice laced with tender worry.

"More than you know, Glynda. Orion Chroma was indeed an intelligent man, leaving everything he owned to his son, but I doubt even _he_ could have predicted the outcome after Mirage remarried. This has me deeply concerned. Ray is not like his father and given his... unorthodox upbringing... he may not view the world in the same light Orion did."

The woman couldn't help but frown at Ozpin's reply. If this boy had the man worried, the chances of him being a threat were quite high.

Orion was _not_ the easiest person to compromise with, and if his son was _anything_ like him, the probability of having _another_ stubborn Chroma left a bitter taste in the deputy's mouth.

She watched as Ozpin raised two fingers to his cheek, the pain from his earlier cut clearly still lingering.

"This is going to be an interesting year."

* * *

Ray was appalled, Scarlet, the girl he once thought was completely incapable of harming a fly, was in actual fact, a complete and total nerd.

Battle strategies erupted out of her mouth constantly, it was like listening to a 24/7 public service announcement, but its sole purpose was for killing Grimm. Each step Ray took felt more draining – both mentally and physically – than the last, and his will to live slowly diminished with every passing second.

As they walked through the dense forest, Ray had purposefully tuned out Scarlet's rambling about the 'best way to kill a Geist in a low-light environment' for the sake of his patience.

He already _knew_ how to kill a damn Geist; blast it with incredibly bright light to burn out its eye, then force-feed your sword through its face as it fruitlessly attempted to delay the inevitable by flying away.

Ridiculous… it's as if the red-headed midget thought he was-

"Wait _._ "

Ray was prevented from going any further by Scarlet holding him in place with her right arm.

"Uh… Scarlet?" Ray questioned with uncertainty, his eyes tracking her as she systematically scanned the area for something only she could sense.

"Down!" Cried the polearm wielding brat as she forcefully tackled Ray to the ground.

A black blur shot over the pair as Scarlet laid suggestively on top of Ray, shielding the boy from a danger he had yet to process.

Within seconds, the pair were surrounded by a vast quantity of nightmare fuel.

Six, no, seven Ursai burst into the clearing like a stampede, quickly circling Ray and Scarlet in a unified stratagem.

Ray, whilst still on the ground, was still suffering from the aftermath of being tackled to the floor.

"Oh great, so this is how I die? _Fantastic!_ What a _fulfilling_ life I've lived..." Ray's lament went completely unheard as Scarlet was on her feet and ready before Ray even registered her actions.

"What…?"

Ray couldn't see what was happening clearly, the shock from Scarlet's brute force still clouding his mind, though the sounds of metal tearing through flesh and sinew could be heard as he rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself up onto his knees.

As his eyes adjusted, he could see inky, disgustingly-black blood splattering the ground around him and his clothing became marked with a few drops of the vile fluid, desecrating his olfactory senses with a repulsive stench.

The limp, degrading corpse of an Ursa Major quickly filled Ray's field of vision and the boy stumbled back onto his rear as it took him by surprise.

"What's going on?!" Ray yelled out in an attempt to gain any semblance of perception in the hectic situation, though his cry fell on deaf ears as Scarlet began opening fire with her repeating cannon, tearing into the rear of a crippled Ursa with multiple, loud, concussive booms.

Chunk after chunk of dislodged flesh was sent flying through the air in a myriad of sporadic directions.

Ray could only make a meek effort to swat the revolting giblets away from him as they littered the ground and the air in his proximity became heavily polluted by thick smoke.

This also served to corrupt the once fresh air with the smell of rotting Grimm.

The hacker was forced to shield his ears from the commotion as he snapped out of his stupor and scrambled towards cover. He had to duck and weave between two of the creatures before he came across an upturned tree with bulging, intertwining roots piercing out of the dirt.

He threw himself over the thickest of these roots and slammed into the ground on the other side, the sounds of metal clashing barbarously against bone and claw prominent in the background.

The boy took a couple of seconds to desperately catch his bearings and breathe before jumping up and spinning around to bear witness to Scarlet suddenly flying into one of the Ursai and literally _tearing it a new one_ with the business end of her bardiche.

Ray could only stand there idly and watch.

She was incredible…

Ruthlessly massacring the Grimm like cannon fodder.

On her face was an almost maniacal grin and Scarlet actually seemed to be giggling somewhat. Her eyes shone in an unparalleled crimson gleam, like something inside her was slowly, but surely charging up.

Ray blinked once.

Then twice.

And on the third repetition, his jaw dropped as he attempted to make sense of the situation.

Of all the expressions of emotion she could be displaying, Scarlet Rubine was actually _laughing_ as she fought for her dear life…

"Well, I guess you can't spell 'slaughter' without 'laughter'..." Ray commented to himself sarcastically. Staring wide-eyed at the show like a deer caught in the headlights.

While the boy was more than willing to leap into the fray to assist his partner, his voice of reason suggested that she probably didn't need the help.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me..."

Scarlet had finished disposing of the fifth Ursa by ramming her spear tip at the bottom of her weapon through its chest and violently twisting before she performed a meticulous feat of acrobatic prowess by backflipping over the sixth beast and landing solidly on the creature's back.

Then, without mercy, she stabbed the dual pronged bardiche blades into the back of its skull and pulled the damn trigger.

Let's just say that the caretakers of this forest – assuming there _were_ any – are going to have a God-damned field day cleaning up the black and pink bloodied mess left in result of her brutal execution.

Bits of flesh, bone and grey matter shot out of the front of the creature's head as it literally imploded due to the cavitation bubble that formed.

The headless body of the Ursa went limp and crumpled onto the ground, smoke and particulate billowed out of every orifice and pore before it settled there like a wet rag.

Scarlet, on the other hand, spared a quick moment to wipe some of the pitch-black blood from her frenzied eyes and leapt at the final Grimm.

Ray observed in absolute, undivided attention, studying every single minute twitch the crimson girl made as she swiftly rolled to the left to avoid an overextended swipe of the creature's clawed paw and rammed her bardiche into the left of its ribcage.

Lifeblood coated the Vacuan titanium blades and their hydrophobic surfaces allowed the viscous liquid the effortlessly slide off of them as she viciously yanked her weapon out of the chest of her lumbering foe, twirled to the right to avoid its other paw and amputated the beast in a flawless underhand swing that cut through flesh, muscle and sinew with questionable ease.

The Ursa let out an agonized, blood curdling roar before trying to bite at the girl's head.

Ray's mouth hung ajar like a bear trap, he felt like he was in the twilight zone here.

Every. Single. Educated assumption he made of this girl was completely and utterly blown out of the water with the force of a splitting atom.

He was conflicted, and to a certain extent, _fearful_ of her abilities.

Somehow. For some unforeseen reason. Scarlet had managed to get into a wrestling match with what remained of the Ursa and had sent the creature skidding towards Ray's feet, where he decided to shrug, summon a light blade, and stabbed the creature through the mouth.

Ending its misery in less than a second.

The use of the word 'pity' was uncommon for Ray. Again, it was not something he threw around lightly, but the boy actually felt a modicum of the aforementioned emotion for the seven Ursai Scarlet had torn into like a ravaging whirlwind.

She had ripped into every single beast with a ravenous hatred, and yet, the girl adorned an excited expression like a damned badge of honour as she nonchalantly wiped away the ebony blood that stained her face and attire. Her crimson locks swept through her fingers as she pulled her hair out of her slightly flushed face and made herself more presentable.

Scarlet collapsed her tool of destruction and hung it back on her belt as she calmly walked towards Ray with a naive attitude belonging to that of a child.

The most impressive thing though? Biometric scans of her body in tandem with Ray's feed from her scroll told him that her Aura didn't suffer a single scratch.

 _One hundred percent._

 _What the living fuck?_

The hacker _actually_ took a couple of healthy steps backwards as she came within arm's reach of the boy, his face wearing a frightened expression as he continued to vacantly stare at her.

"Who are you? And what have you done to Scarlet?"

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **So, Scarlet and Ray are partners.**

 **Big surprise!**

 **She's also a total badass, too. Who knew, huh?**

 **To be quite honest, I don't blame Ray for being so taken back by her impressive fighting skills, though, seven and a half years of strict training will do that to someone.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, great things await over the horizon that I'm sure you'll enjoy.**

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


	6. Chapter 6

**{Chance is a Miscalculation}**

"Hey."

The single uttered word drew the card-wielding duellist out of his trance. He gazed upon his hooded companion from beneath the rim of his tanned cowboy hat as the duo casually strolled through the evergreen scenery. A light breeze swept between them, causing the duellist's coat to billow slightly in the passing currents.

"What's up?" He responded inquisitively, the duellist's curiosity beginning to elevate.

"You wanna – hell, I don't know – spice things up a little?"

The card-wielder, Gabriel, smirked. "Depends on your definition of ' _spice_ '. I'm not exactly a fan of oregano, but I _do_ enjoy the occasional teriyaki chicken now and then."

His partner, Kyzal, turned to face him – at least it looked like he did, the boy's face was concealed by an unusually dark shade.

"A challenge? Perhaps? I'm thinking... who can run through the forest and strike down the most amount of Grimm before we reach the objectives… you up for it?"

Gabriel didn't have to give the marksman a verbal answer as his fingers delicately found their way to his weapon of choice, the one-hundred and four playing cards secured to his waist.

" _Well_ , I _do_ love a gamble..."

Gold-tipped black arrows and intricately decorated playing cards flew through the air as Grimm were mercilessly cut down left, right and centre.

Where a once, light-hearted challenge had taken precedence between the newly-designated partners, a full out war was quickly taking precedence amongst them.

The pair were ruthlessly efficient, decimating the creatures of darkness before they even saw what was coming. One after another, the pair slew Grimm like they were nothing but minor inconveniences, many a confused student saw the beasts killed without any explanation before two blurs shot past them, unwilling to slow down to say 'you're welcome'.

"Twenty-three!" Called Kyzal as they raced through the forest, leaving utter turmoil in their wake.

"Ha!" Gabriel laughed in response as he leapt over a fallen log, turning to witness his partner vault over it with visible ease. "Twenty-eight! Keep up or suck up, son!"

Kyzal grit his teeth and burst forwards with a renewed boost of determination, overtaking Gabriel and nocking two arrows in the string of his bow before letting them streak forwards with a high-pitched whistle and embed their golden points deep within the bowels of two beowolves.

"Twenty-five!" Kyzal corrected his earlier statement with fresh confidence, only for said confidence to be ripped away by Gabriel's immediate response.

"Thirty-thr-"

Unfortunately for the duellist, he was unable to finish his gloating as he skidded to a halt, just before the edge of a drop-off towering over a large clearing in the forest. Kyzal followed suit and they both overlooked the recess in the ground, spotting a pair of students fighting off a swarm of creeps and beowolves.

Kyzal and Gabriel spared a moment to share a knowing look between one another before they rearmed themselves and leapt into the fray.

* * *

Ray was done.

So completely and utterly fed up was he, that he had seriously considered just giving up on this futile initiation and going back to Mistral for a second round of poker.

"I. _Hate_. This. Job." He growled menacingly, striking down a beowolf with each word he angrily spat out of his grit teeth.

"Then _why_ did you choose this profession?" Scarlet questioned him, brutally bisecting another Ursa as she spoke.

Ray ducked under a charging Creep before spinning on his heel, summoning a spear and pinning the thing to a nearby rock.

"Fucking tourists..." The hacker grumbled, twisting the spearhead and putting the pathetic creature out of its never-ending misery.

Two additional creeps leapt towards their comrades' defence, despite the fact that they were far too late to save it.

However, before Ray could deal with these two very much unwanted guests, two arrows struck them down with laser precision. Striking them right between their ugly little eyes.

Ray was taken aback by this, though didn't complain as every other Grimm in the area was taken down in almost the same way – some of the beasts met their makers by way of deadly playing cards tearing through their disgusting hides.

Before long, the undesirable company Ray and Scarlet shared was disposed of and in their place stood two male figures.

Who were _also_ undesirable, but only _one_ of the pair held that opinion.

One of the strangers wore some pitch-black hoodie and baggy sweatpants to match, the hood covering his head working to conceal his face entirely by means of an extraordinarily dark shade. Strapped to his back was both a quiver mounted vertically – almost perfectly perpendicular to his spinal column – and a longbow, with possibly enough power behind it to pierce even the thickest of Grimm bone armour with ease.

The second of the two males wore a long brown trench coat stretching to just past his knees. Two half empty decks of cards could be seen strapped to his waist and the cowboy hat the boy wore on his head only served to fulfil the cowboy stereotype Ray had in mind when analysing him. The hacker honestly couldn't give less of a damn about the rest of the second individual's clothing, it really only served to prove Ray correct... _again._

In the boy's hand, he twirled a long staff, about five and a half feet in length, with purple, crackling bolts of energy emitting from it like a damn Tesla coil.

"Hey, I like that energy sword thing you got going on there, man." The cowboy commented nonchalantly.

Ray sighed and raised his eyebrows once to acknowledge the boy's half-assed attempt at breaking the ice.

"Yeah, well, that's a nice _stick_."

Scarlet went to work in immediately shutting Ray up by shoving past him – to which Ray put up no fight against her, given her earlier display of raw power – and went to work on introducing herself and her reluctant partner.

"Ignore him. My name's Scarlet Rubine. Thanks for the assist." She stated with an overwhelming amount of innocent kindness.

"Well, my name is Gabriel Stryker and this is-"

"Kyzal Drave." The boy's partner cut in, exercising his "well used" vocal chords.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both. Oh, and this is Ray~"

" _Chroma_. _How_ many times do I have to tell you?"

"Yeah. This is Ray Chroma. As you can tell, we're partners too!" The crimsonette ignored Ray's complaint in favour of carrying on the already short introductions.

Ray opted to sort through his messenger bag rather than listen in on the conversation Scarlet was determined to maintain in order to check he had all of his tools. Though he could quite easily recreate a missing tool using his semblance, it was far more beneficial to spare himself the time and effort it took to accomplish such a task. That, and he'd rather not slack off and exchange small talk with others. Scarlet was _more_ than enough, he did not need another _two_ to join in.

Ray could easily bet money on Scarlet talking someone to death, the girl's mouth and head worked in beautiful synchronisation to completely and utterly bore the living hell out of anyone in her mere proximity.

If Ray wasn't a victim of this himself, he'd actually be impressed.

"So, are you ready?" Scarlet's overly enthusiastic voice pierced through Ray's distracted mind as he worked on closing his bag.

"Ready for what?" Ray's grouchy reply answered her. Sadly, it didn't so much as faze the girl as she annoyingly leant against the boy's shoulder.

"To complete the objective!" Her voice was assaulting his ears with its positivity. "Gabriel and Kyzal agreed to help us reach it on the grounds that four individuals trying to reach the temple will be far easier _and faster_ , than two, so we discussed it and came to the decision to team up!"

"That's _great_ , Scarlet!" Ray's sarcastic response could've been detected by specialised sensors three miles away, yet his moronic partner didn't or couldn't pick up on the tone of voice to save her god-damned life.

Not only that, but the concept of personal space was completely foreign to the girl as she practically dragged him by the hood of his jacket toward the temple as he sulked in silence.

She really was the bane of existence.

* * *

The team of two partners had served to effectively clear their opposition with an impressive amount of coordination.

Scarlet had taken the role of acting leader for the group as she barked out commands like a damn dictator. In lieu of Ray's peace and quiet wandering, the boy was forced to hear the conversation his three other companions were engaging in so nonchalantly. Not even his selective hearing could tune out the noise, nor could he ignore the fact that Scarlet was so casually making physical contact with him whenever she could. Her desire to touch the hacker becoming increasingly old and very much annoying.

' _Please tell me this is the extent of her clinginess._ ' Ray pleaded with any heavenly bodies out there to get her to stop, but alas, it did him no favours.

"So, Ray, what lessons do you think we're gonna have after we finish the initiation?" Scarlet enquired as she held onto his arm affectionately. She gave him a sickeningly sweet smile as her tiny frame looked up at him. Despite his internal despair, the boy swallowed his grit and sighed.

"Probably the usual; Grimm studies, History, Literacy and Mathematics, that sort of bull." He replied lowly, though it wasn't angrily.

Before Scarlet even took the time to acknowledge his response, she had decided to release her hold on him and excitedly skip towards a naturally occurring flowerbed. The girl let off an overdramatic gasp, cupping her hands over her mouth, and squatted down to smell the multi-coloured assortment of fauna.

Ray seized the opportunity to mouth the words 'Kill me' to Kyzal and Gabriel, eliciting snickering from the pair as they found his begging humorous.

When the hacker's violet eyes resumed tracking his crimson-clad parasite, he immediately noticed something wasn't right. His eyes narrowed a fraction of an inch as he saw the girl's small nose begin to crinkle, her eyes squinted and her chest began to heave as if she was about to sneeze.

"Uh… Scarlet? Are you okay?" Ray questioned hesitantly, caution seeping into his voice as he shared a mildly concerned look with the other two.

Before any of the three males could react, Scarlet's diaphragm delivered one last contraction before her head shot back violently and a fucking tree exploded to their far left in a rupture of powerful vermillion energy. Ray found himself sat on the floor with his hands up to his ears as the incredibly concussive shockwave that occurred knocked him back. Sparks and plasma had scorched the once great oak and the overbearing sound of splitting wood filled the quiet air with a low creaking as the two halves of the tree toppled over with a pair of thuds.

Splinters and upturned dirt showered the area like rain as Ray, Kyzal and Gabriel all collectively recoiled hard from this outburst, completely unsuspecting of the event before it transpired.

It was as if someone had fired a _missile_ at them.

"What the _hell_ was that?!" Ray yelled as his eyes were screwed shut and he slowly pried his hands away from his ears.

Cracking an eye open, his ocular display was delivering unto him a whole host of energy readouts, his integrated hardware was seemingly as spooked as he was, as data filled the left side of his vision like credits after a movie.

Plasma, ionized air particles and radiation were but some of the words the boy managed to register before he dismissed his HUD.

Scarlet, despite the circumstances, was rather hastily dusting herself off with a bright red face, clearly embarrassed and untouched.

The girl dug her hand into one of her leather pouches and brought forth a handkerchief to wipe her nose before sticking it back inside and zipping the pouch closed.

"Scarlet?" Ray called for attention, however the girl was attempting to quickly move away from the inevitable interrogation she was set up for. Ignoring the boy's call as she patted down her clothes and began walking away.

Again, the three boys looked to one another before Ray took the initiative and picked himself up off of the floor to chase his timid partner.

When he reached her, he could still see the flush painted across her cheeks as she lowered her head and averted her eyes.

"Hey Scarlet, _what_ are you doing? Talk to me here." Ray practically pleaded with the girl, still confused as to what the hell just happened.

Still, the girl ignored his question and increased her speed. That was before Ray ran out of patience and placed a hand on her shoulder. Scarlet tensed in response to the sudden contact and Ray spun her around before keeping her still with both hands on her shoulders.

"Hey, look at me." He instructed, his tone wasn't harsh, more of a reassuring modulation in his voice. Scarlet still tried to shy away from him but the overwhelming gaze from his amethyst eyes demanded her attention.

Her eyes looked as if they were about to form tears, Ray's analysis of her ruby irises told him that she was embarrassed, a little scared and almost seemingly ashamed.

Ray heard the girl murmur something quietly, but he failed to discern what she said.

"Look kiddo, if you're going to speak to me, you're gonna have to be a little louder than that."

"I-it's my semblance..." Her meek, tender voice repeated her earlier statement.

Ray's eyes immediately softened, from what he had seen, his over-analysing mind was quickly jumping into action and putting all of the pieces together.

Once more, the hacker found himself sympathising with his partner.

Her semblance, in all of its highly unpredictable and incredibly dangerous glory, was out of her control.

Déjà vu hit Ray like a truck.

 _We're more alike than I thought..._

* * *

 **Author's no** **te:**

 **I'm not very good with regular uploads, a most of these early chapters have needed some edits to make reading them much easier and given my limited free time, I can only do so much before other priorities take hold.**

 **However, I'll try to be a little more straight forward and upload at _least_ once a week.**

 **Please Follow, Favourite, and/or Review if you enjoy the story so far, I love me some constructive and deconstructive criticism.**

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


	7. Chapter 7

**{Malfunction}**

We were almost there, according to my heads-up display, the temple - and consequently, our objective - was 254, make that 253, metres ahead.

Scarlet didn't say or do much for the rest of our journey, still receding inside of her shell after her mishap with the tree.

I, on the other hand, had decided to actually talk to Gabriel and Kyzal - _big surprise_ \- at least attempting to break the ice in order to ward off the veil of awkward silence looming over us.

"So, judging by the cards, you're a gambler, right?" I asked, Gabriel nodded and pulled out the half empty deck of cards before fanning them out.

" _Yeah_ , been doing it for as long as I can remember. As you have seen, these are my weapons, my… tools of destruction, if you will. I call them Reapers, one-hundred and four playing cards that are surprisingly a _lot_ deadlier than you'd imagine. Many a sore loser have learned that the hard way."

I analysed the deck he held in his hand before he ever so kindly gave me one of the cards. The Ace of Hearts to be precise.

The card was very much decorated in a sense that it had the image of the grim reaper on both the face and rear of the card. The reaper was holding his infamous scythe, no doubt ready to harvest the souls of the dead, or in Gabriel's case, take them by force. Chemical analysis showed that it was pretty much a normal card, though a minute amount of burn dust was mixed with the ink to give it incendiary properties.

I was kinda impressed actually, I've seen a lot of weird and downright illogical everyday items become weaponized, but this was the first time I had actually seen the use of playing cards. Gabriel must've had something else up his sleeve too, given the limited exposure to him fighting, these cards would have had no way in _hell_ of penetrating as easily as they did back in the clearing, when we first met.

I hypothesised that it was probably something to do with that purple energy his staff emitted, though, further examination was required to determine an accurate conclusion.

Kyzal was _way_ easier to get a reading on. The boy used a bow and arrow, a sharpshooter in every sense of the word, though hinges in the shaft indicated a secondary, possible melee configuration for the marksman to use in close quarters.

"Hey Kyzal, would it be alright if I hold your bow?" I enquired politely, hoping he would say yes so I could get both a closer look and a 3D scan of the weapon.

"Certainly, be careful with her though, she and I have been through a lot. If you break her, I'll break you,"

"Noted."

I gave him a (somewhat) grateful smile, as to give no impression of an ulterior motive. He didn't need to know that I was planning on scanning, saving and possibly planning on using an exact hard light copy of his bow later on.

He handed me his weapon, where I immediately noticed a golden detailing on the pitch black, metal shaft matching his similarly coloured quiver mounted on the back of his hooded jacket.

Kyzal had also been so kind as to hand over one of his arrows too, not like I could do much with it other than look at it and curse my semblance for having literally _no_ ranged capabilities what-so-fucking-ever.

"You can fire it if you want… or can. Careful though, Deliare has quite the draw strength," The boy stated, although smugly.

I switched my focus from the bow and arrow to his concealed face. Slowly, I held the bow in my left hand and nocked the arrow with my right as I maintained what I hoped to be eye contact with him. I straightened my left arm, drew back the incredibly tense string and let the arrow fly.

If the boy was surprised, he didn't express it, as the arrow I had fired, managed to stick an unsuspecting beowolf right in the head, I had known the bastard was there for a little while and was just _waiting_ for a reason to kill it. A dull thud indicated the beast's repulsive cadaver falling out of the tree it was perched in, before I put it to sleep.

My lips slowly curled into a smirk of my own before I handed Kyzal his bow. Gabriel was failing to understand how I had managed to kill a beowolf none of them had realised was present, both without looking _and_ on my first use of a weapon that didn't belong to me.

The gambler's gaze alternated between the decaying corpse and myself, still trying to process what in Remnant had just occurred.

" _How did you…?_ "

"Shoots well, little off balance towards the bottom of the shaft, though that can easily be compensated by adjusting your aim." I stated without pause.

Kyzal opted to say nothing, either he didn't have a witty comeback and was just as perplexed as Gabriel was, or the boy had nothing _to_ say considering his challenging demeanour just got shot down by a kid in a beanie.

I turned to the gambler with a mischievous glint in my eyes.

"Oh, and by the way, I believe that makes Kyzal's kill count thirty-six, correct me if I am wrong, but that makes you even."

My smirk turned quickly into a wolfish grin before I carelessly placed my hands into the pockets of my jeans and walked away, intent on once more forcefully smashing open the shell of my midget partner and hauling her ass out of it before we reached the objective.

* * *

Scarlet was walking with an air of weariness and saturnine moping. Even Ray's display of archery prowess didn't elicit a response. Her heavy feet scuffling against the dirt path she lethargically walked was clearly far more interesting.

"Scarlet." The deep, yet smooth voice of her partner called. The girl shook her head and continued walking, her wavy red hair slightly bouncing from the sudden movement. Desperate to avoid contact so she didn't hurt anyone.

 _Again..._

"Scarlet, _seriously?_ Talk to me Rubine." Scarlet's instincts told her to pay attention to Ray's voice, but the girl, out of spite, fought them off. She didn't want to hurt him with her semblance, so it was best to just avoid all contact with him.

Ray's fingers curling around her shoulder made the girl instantly freeze on the spot. She felt him pull on her shoulder and spin her around to face him.

"Ray please..." She begged him in yearning. Though her pleas went ignored.

"We need to talk about this Scarlet. I understand that you can't control your semblance, but it'll be better if us three know what we were dealing with in case you _do_ lose control over it again. Trust me, keeping us in the dark will only cause more harm than good." His reasoning demanded her to think on her current behaviour. He was right, if they didn't know the risks of being around her, how were they supposed to care for someone if – _when_ – they got injured.

With a burdened sigh, carmine eyes connected to a pair glistening in a brilliant heliotrope as she tried to hold off the flood of ravaging emotions she stored inside her. If the deadly potency of her semblance didn't scare Ray off, then her inability to maintain a grip on her feelings would.

"Okay..." She breathed, nodding slightly.

"Walk with me."

There was something about Scarlet that Ray found both frightening and admirable. Her semblance, that carried the title of Entropy, was the physical manifestation of chaos.

When Scarlet is in proximity of anything out of the norm, where something could go wrong at _any_ second, her body _feeds_ off of it. Taking all of that risk and all of that danger, turning it into a scarily unpredictable energy that is capable is stripping flesh from bones, scorching the earth around her and embedding fear into the hearts of _all_ men.

 _That_ was the scary part.

The impressive part was the fact that despite all of this energy bottling up inside her constantly, she always fought an ongoing battle with it to prevent someone getting hurt.

Imagine that? Waking up every day and spending every second of your life trying to maintain a hold on something that could potentially kill someone by merely bumping into them.

Ray compared it to a living nightmare, trying so _desperately_ to hold back on your emotions and expressions just to stop yourself from unintentionally _murdering_ your friends and family.

Scarlet was a ticking time bomb, any slip up, even the _slightest_ loss in concentration and someone could _die._

He felt sorry for her. He _really_ did.

Sympathy and pity were emotions Ray would hardly ever express or even _acknowledge_ for that matter, but this was a rare exception. The fact that his partner had it far worse than pretty much ninety percent of the student population and yet, they still bullied, picked on and tormented her with their narcissistic superiority complexes.

Though he couldn't deny her nobility. She was unwillingly burdened with the daunting reality that if she didn't focus, something bad could happen. Yet, she lived with that responsibility, _thrived_ even, she did _not_ get into this school by mere chance.

Really, Scarlet was a sweet girl, with a lot of love to give, but no one to give it to.

He would find it hard saying goodbye to her after he got that final piece…

A delicate flower as she may be though, Scarlet was _no_ pushover when it came to slaughtering Grimm.

The girl was a death machine, even without her semblance. Ray shuddered in fear thinking about the kind of situation she would be required to use it in.

Should such circumstances ever arise, he would want to be as _far away as possible_ when she lets go. After that tree got mutilated, he would hate to see the end result of her semblance on people, never mind the fucking Grimm.

* * *

Ray had managed to get details of Scarlet's semblance surprisingly easily. She was proving to be easily susceptible to peer pressure. A fact that she despised.

Scarlet couldn't withstand the intense glare from those violet eyes of his.

They were exceedingly bright, yet held a cold and calculating glare behind them. It was as if he was constantly searching for something and should he want anything from her, she would be the first to admit that those eyes were more than enough to get her to cave.

Despite this, those eyes were beautiful to Scarlet, quite contradictory considering the hard, yet unpredictable personality of the one who possessed them. Like twin gems, the eyes _dared_ to be stared into, but what someone wouldn't realise, is that while they are analysing them, those amethyst orbs would be doing the exact same thing.

Keeping secrets from Ray would be a real challenge for the crimsonette.

Ray had relayed all of the information about Scarlet's semblance to Gabriel and Kyzal, if they were to be around such a dangerous force of nature, they had to be informed.

The hacker received mixed responses from the pair, Gabriel's behaviour picked up a more cautious undertone to it, though he still acted the same.

Kyzal? Well…

"So, by just merely _touching_ us, she is capable of imploding our bodies just like that?" The hooded boy took a couple of healthy steps to the side as the four of them made their way through the forest. Ray had to admit, they were making great pace, with only 132 metres to go, they weren't far now.

"Yes." Ray responded without any inflection in his voice. He was failing to understand the sharpshooter's confusion. He wasn't even sure if it could be classified as confusion at this point, Ray thought the boy was just struggling to come to terms with it.

This was annoying him.

"Would you like me to say it _slower_ for you to be able to understand it? Or are you a big boy and are capable of doing it yourself?"

Ray felt the boy deadpan in response to his condescending tone of voice.

"I'm not an _idiot_ -"

"Are you _sure_?"

"-I _just_ wanted to _double-check."_ Kyzal's snappy reply earned him a shrug from the hacker.

"Absorbing information is a slow process for you, _clearly_..."

"Hey! Now you listen here!"

Gabriel chuckled at the petty bickering between the two and found his gaze wandering over to an extraordinarily quiet Scarlet Rubine.

Gabriel's initial impression of her was a cheery girl with a lot of energy. This at first was confirmed, though, after her infamous sneeze, he saw a drastic change in her mood and behaviour, and that unsettled him. In Gabriel's eyes, the fairer sex should never have to look so glum, as a lady's man himself, well…

Miss Rubine was in dire need of some cheering up.

"Excuse me, miss." The boy greeted courteously as he tipped his hickory tinted cowboy hat in her direction. He saw her spin her head around, watching as her hair – partitioned on the left side of her head – swung around with it. Bright red, luminescent locks swaying smoothly over her left shoulder to look at it him, paired with deep, crimson eyes that instantly began tracking his own purple orbs.

"Oh… hey." Her morose tone was enough to get the duellist's eyebrows to furrow.

"Why the long face little red? Surely such a pretty thing like yourself shouldn't have to be so upset?" A meek smile crossed Scarlet's face as her cheeks heated.

 _Not used to receiving compliments, huh? This will not do._

"T-Thanks." The girl mumbled reservedly. At 5'2, she was pretty short compared to Gabriel, with his 5'10 he pretty much dwarfed her. Though that looked like it was going to be a repeating pattern.

Not like it mattered though, all girls were special in their own way.

"I'm just a little… I don't know… _down_ , I suppose..." The girl continued her speech.

"Hey, don't be like that. We all know what we're dealing with here, if anything bad _does_ happen, it's not like we can't react accordingly. Seriously red, don't beat yourself up over it." Gabriel spoke in a reassuring tone, trying his best to dissolve any tension she had with a kind smile.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure you're not the _only_ person here that's destroyed a tree, I doubt Ozpin will give you any grief for it."

Scarlet gave Gabriel a contemplative look as the words floated around her head. Eventually, she nodded, her meek smile becoming a little more genuine.

"See! That's the spirit, red! No need to feel so _blue_." A wink was sent her way as he joked, earning a small chuckle from the _red_ -clad girl.

Kyzal and Ray had soon since stopped their minor dispute, just in time as all four of them closed in on a small stream in their path. Scarlet, Kyzal and Gabriel all walked through the stream, seemingly not bothered by the lukewarm water.

Ray, on the other hand, stopped dead in his tracks as he stared blankly into the ford. Water trickled gently over the stones, flowing smoothly as it followed the path of least resistance.

"Hey Ray, c'mon man, we're not that far!" Kyzal called as he pointed at the temple, now visible through the break in the trees.

His words fell on deaf ears as Ray's eyes never left the stream. A gulp made its way down his throat. His hands began lightly sweating through his gloves and his feet absolutely refused to move an inch from his position.

A sharp, yet ragged breath was released as the boy exhaled slowly.

"I uh-"

Bubbles floated to the surface, escaping through the gape in Ray's mouth...

"You guys go on ahead… I'll-"

Images of waves stretching towards the sky flashed in his mind; memories of fruitlessly attempting to swim to the surface, desperate for just _one_ gasp of air…

"I'll… catch up..."

Scarlet and Gabriel looked to one another in apprehension.

"Are… you okay, Ray?" His partner asked cautiously.

Gabriel hummed thoughtfully. He'd seen these signs before. A strong declination to so much as twitch, wide eyes staring vacantly into the shallow water, hands slightly shaking; expectant of danger. A single bead of perspiration could be seen trailing down his left temple, slowly making its way down his cheek. Gabriel metaphorically clicked his fingers as he figured it out.

It was fear.

And if Gabriel had to put his finger on it, he would say that Ray was _severely_ aquaphobic.

"He's scared." The boy concluded. Turning to Scarlet as he did so.

Scarlet frowned before she nodded and carefully trod over to the boy on the other side of the stream.

Once she had approached him, she carefully grasped his hand and he flinched in response.

"C'mon," She offered gently, smiling up at him as his eyes darted between her and the river, "I'll help you through it."

Slowly, she began to pull on his arm, leading him towards the water as his feet shuffled against the dirt beneath them.

"It's okay, it's just a little water. It can't hurt you." Scarlet spoke softly, trying her best to distract him from his abject horror. Her right foot entered the water, soon followed by her left and she stood there, looking up at Ray.

"Just keep looking at me." She instructed, her voice softly encouraging him to follow.

He kept alternating his gaze between Scarlet, the other two and the stream itself, before slowly and very, _very_ warily taking a single step into the stream. As soon as his purple canvas shoe touched the liquid, he _immediately_ pulled it back, shook Scarlet's grip off and hastily backed away from the stream.

Scarlet let off an elongated sigh. She had been too confident in herself to believe that she could help Ray get over what was quite possibly, a very deeply engrained fear. Something bad involving water had clearly scarred him for life and while she intended on finding out what it was, she knew that they all had to complete the initiation first.

She watched Ray, carefully analysing him as he stared into the water then looked around him.

"What is he doing?" Kyzal asked, his tone underlying his annoyance.

"Come _on_ , Ray! We're _literally_ at the temple and you choose _now_ to quiver in fear?!" He yelled over to the boy from the other side in the stream.

Ray didn't respond, instead, the boy must've spotted something behind him and went after it. Briefly disappearing behind a large, jagged boulder.

A crystalline hum pierced the silence and the sounds of him hacking away at something were prevalent in the still air.

Before long, Ray soon reappeared, dragging behind him a slab of slate, just long and wide enough to fit over the stream.

"He's making a bridge." Scarlet mumbled, more so to herself, though just in earshot of Gabriel and Kyzal.

Gabriel chuckled. "Of _course_ he is."

Ray, _surprisingly_ , managed to flick the slate up and over his shoulder, before manually lifting it with a small grunt and walking towards the edge of the stream. The thing must've weighed several kilograms and yet the boy lifted it like it was nothing.

He allowed the slab to slide down off of his shoulder, its sharp, jagged edge digging into the ground before he shoved the thing using whatever strength he possessed in his arms, forcing the rock to teeter before toppling over and landing firmly on the other side, dust beginning to plume as he disturbed it.

Ray then, without hesitance, hastily crossed over his makeshift bridge with a serious manner.

"Let's go."

* * *

The final approach to the semi-circular temple was dead quiet, no Grimm nor student in sight, though on a series of pedestals were various chess pieces. Some of the pieces were missing; the black pawns, white knights, the black bishops and the black and white rooks.

All that remained were the white king and queen pieces, the black knights and then the white pawns.

The black monarch pieces didn't seem to be placed anywhere.

 _How foreboding…_

Ray eyed each piece analytically, though didn't so much as touch one. It was, in fact, Scarlet that approached the pieces and looked at those that remained with a timid nature.

These 'relics' were clearly how teams got assigned, it didn't take a genius to understand that. Even Scarlet knew and she wasn't exactly the most intelligent person the hacker had ever met.

The girl in question stood on the stone blocks that made up the ruined temple, turning her head to look at Ray with an inquisitive look on her face.

"I suppose you should just pick one, not like it really _matters_ which one we pick. It's not as if they have any ulterior meaning behind them or anything."

 _Anyone that thinks that is clearly an idiot._

Scarlet's attention returned to the pieces and she picked up one of the white pawns, holding it up in front of her sanguine tinted eyes. A satisfied smile involuntarily crossed her lips as she nodded and placed the piece inside one of the leather pouches around her waist.

"Hey, chuck us one of those little white ones as well, might as well pick the same, y'know?" Gabriel called to her beside Ray, Kyzal seemed to be watching the treeline for any suspicious movement, his bow in his left hand with an arrow pinched between his right index and middle fingers.

Grimm could appear at any second and the marksman didn't want to be caught with his pants down.

Scarlet happily complied with Gabriel's request, throwing him the second white pawn to which the duellist caught it effortlessly, he twirled the piece between his fingers playfully before flicking it up in the air with his thumb and catching it in the other hand before dropping it inside his right coat pocket.

"Are we _done_ here?" Kyzal asked, still directing his attention to their surroundings.

Scarlet hopped off of the temple, landing next to Ray with a small thud.

"Yeah, we're good." She replied cheerily, locking eyes with Ray.

 _What are **you** looking at...?_

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **I am literally at a loss for words here, author's notes are harder to write than the actual story itself, who knew?**

 **Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the time it took to write, edit and upload it.**

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


	8. Chapter 8

**{Gross Misallocation}**

Ray raised an eyebrow in response to Scarlet's unwarranted eye contact. She didn't say anything, not like she got the chance anyway.

"Guys, is it just me or is anyone _else_ wondering why it's so damn quiet?"

Both Ray and Scarlet diverted their attention to Kyzal as the boy, for the first time, pulled the hood off of his head to look at them through a blazing pair of golden pools. His eyes barely visible through his mane of pitch black, shaggy hair.

"Well, I suppose it's nice to know what you _actually_ look like." Gabriel commented jovially, chuckling as he spoke. "I wondered if you were going to keep us all in the _dark_ about your appearance."

Ray smirked, "That was a good one, I'll give you that."

Kyzal merely rolled his eyes, "Yeah-yeah, now can one of you please pay attention to what's important here?" The boy asked impatiently, "We haven't seen any Grimm since that one Ray managed to luckily shoot out of the tree."

 _Luckily? Please._

"He has a point you guys, it's worrying me..." Scarlet spoke apprehensively as she passed between Gabriel and Ray to approach Kyzal.

"Have you got any suggestions, Kyzal? Do you think we should just beeline it to the cliff?" She asked considerately.

"Well yeah, we could, but-"

"That still doesn't explain the lack of Grimm." Ray finished the sentence for him earning a nod of affirmation from the marksman.

"Chances are that the beasts' attention is being diverted elsewhere," he added, pointing to the empty pedestals on the temple, "We're not the only team here, so logic would dictate that others have grabbed their artifacts and are making their way - or have made it - to the cliff."

"Drawing Grimm with them." Gabriel supplied.

Ray began to delve into problem solving to see if there was anything in the area that could give them an advantage.

He scanned the area with his eyes looking for any anomalies. Ray remembered spotting multiple trees during their journey here that emitted a weak electromagnetic frequency. So, he figured it would not be surprising to find one here.

His hunch, not to his surprise, proved to be successful.

A tree to his right was emitting one that was nigh identical to the previous ones he had encountered. The hacker approached the tree emitting the peculiar signal, drawing a knife from the inside of his coat as soon as he reached the base of the trunk.

"What is it, Ray?" Scarlet asked inquisitively, eyeing him as he walked with the bowie knife in his right hand.

"There's something..." he began to climb the tree and whilst holding onto one of the branches above his head, drove his knife into the trunk, "… _in_ here."

* * *

" _What_ does that boy think he's _doing?"_ Glynda Goodwitch asked almost furiously as both her and Ozpin watched the close-up view of the boy's face as he dug out one of the many cameras throughout the forest. They observed him as he suddenly removed the pinhole camera, gazing into the device with interest.

Ozpin smirked, Mister Chroma was clearly attracted to technology like a magnet.

"It seems he might be onto us, Glynda..."

* * *

Ray gripped his knife in his pearly white teeth, allowing him to have a better grip on the camera as he analysed the tiny device. It was as small as the nail on his pinkie finger, the lens no wider than a pencil.

"What the hell?" He mumbled, the sound muffled by the knife in his mouth.

"Ray, _what_ are you doing?" Kyzal sighed.

"C'mere and I'll show you." The others could just make out what he was saying as they all wandered over to the tree.

"Hey Gabe, catch," Ray said as he practically spat out his knife toward the duellist. He caught the blade by the handle – the only part where Ray's mouth _hadn't_ touched – and held it for him as the boy climbed down with the wireless camera in his possession.

"Look what I've found. It's like Christmas morning and no one told me," He brandished the camera in front of his companions with a neutral expression. Scarlet – curious as to why Ray had just suddenly found a camera of all things – delicately plucked the device from his grasp and frowned.

"Why did you take this from the tree? What use do we have for it?"

Ray smirked before taking his knife back from Gabriel. On the casing were small seams indicating weak points that allowed Ray to wedge the blade of his knife into and pry the metal cylinder open, revealing the delicate electronics inside.

"What are these cameras for Scarlet?" Ray questioned with a sly, knowing glint in his eyes.

"Th-they're used to um… examine the students for the uh… examination?" The girl fumbled over her words like a broken record.

Ray nodded.

"They are used to examine the students, correct," he confirmed, "what are we _looking for_ , Scarlet?"

The girl gasped and then immediately facepalmed.

"We're looking for the students." Gabriel answered for her.

"Doesn't explain why you're mutilating one of Ozpin's cameras though..." Kyzal injected his sceptical comment into the conversation.

"The cameras are designed to track the students and we are _looking_ for the students so that we may avoid the entourage of Grimm that _follow_ them and ensure our survival through this death-trap. So, if we can use _this_ camera to find the students, we will know exactly where _not_ to go, and complete this test quickly _and_ without injury."

The three teens Ray had beside him watched as the boy removed his gloves. He placed the camera on the ground and brought his messenger bag forward, pulling out a pair of wire cutters and his scroll before snipping a couple of wires and connecting their opposite ends by twisting them.

"Isn't this like… _cheating?_ " Kyzal questioned as he leant over Ray's shoulder, just watching him go to work on this piece of hardware.

"Well…" Ray began as he pulled out various adaptors and a soldering iron from his bag, much to the surprise of the other two.

"It's only cheating..." he pulled a small, cylindrical module out that connected to the printed circuit board and brought it to his mouth. "...if you get caught."

* * *

Glynda's frown of disapproval made itself known to the world as she scoffed at the boy's blatant teasing. How did a street urchin like him make it into the initiation? Especially since he wasn't willing to play by the rules like everyone else?

So eager to show off at the top of the cliff and gradually declining into a lazy, good-for-nothing liability.

And yet, Ozpin was adamantly justifying this boy's actions and was persistently attempting to convince her that he was more capable than he let on. The boy clearly _wasn't_ his father – that much was clear – so _why_ the headmaster seemed somewhat fond of him was beyond Glynda's comprehension.

Though, she was morally bound to offer the benefit of the doubt to young Mister Chroma. Maybe he was just saving his energy or maybe he was just waiting for the right moment to show off once more.

For the meantime, however, this had yet to be seen, as the live feed – both audio _and_ video – was cut off from the camera the boy had taken, leaving it down to speculation as to what him and his soon-to-be teammates were up to.

* * *

You know those times when everything has just gone horribly and then all of a sudden one thing goes right and you're over the moon?

Well, hacking the camera was like one of those moments.

I had spotted multiple, similar frequencies from what I could only assume to be more pinhole cameras like this one, so I figured that they were connected to some kind of network.

And I was right.

Prying into the software was _easy_ , using its nexus of other cameras was even more so and triangulating the position of the Grimm was a complete cakewalk.

The cameras were designed to activate and deactivate when in proximity to a scroll signal belonging to one of the initiates, this meant that every feed I had scrolled through had at least one student there.

Sadly, this also accounted for any that were injured, or worse, dead.

Through the camera feed, I had located the body of one of the initiates on the ground, he was lying there, completely motionless with deep, unsightly gashes through his body, weapon loosely gripped in his hand, and blood pooled around the poor guy.

I knew instantly that Ozpin wasn't joking about this initiation. No one was coming to save us if we got hurt. No one was going to be there to carry us to the cliff if we passed out…

This is why I was going to use every available asset to my advantage to see us through to the end of this damn test.

Like hell was I going to give my life for a cause I didn't believe in and a school I had no intention of attending.

I did _not_ come out of hiding for _this_ …

The Grimm were moving in droves towards ruins, South-West of the temple.

So, you know which way we went?

That's right. South-East.

Walking now – knowing that the majority of the Grimm were on their merry way to kill _others_ – was a breath of fresh air. For us, I mean, not them _._

Ozpin said something about people dying if they didn't fight for their lives, but if there are no hostile creatures to fight then we'll make it back in time for lunch, _no_ problem.

I could probably even make the time to watch the sun set, how nice is that?

Of course, whilst the majority of the Grimm were essentially witch-hunting those students, some of the ugly motherfuckers obviously didn't get the memo, thus, we were forced to terminate them as we wandered toward the cliff.

Something felt off though, even _I_ had to admit. Despite our favourable odds, we were still remaining both vigilant and on edge.

There was a _dark_ presence boiling up somewhere; as if someone or something had just pissed off a God.

A loud crack was heard as an object travelled at such a high velocity, it broke the sound barrier. This was worrying for us, given our location, we were _well_ out of the way of any students, this meant there was a _big_ fight happening.

* * *

"Aw _hell_..." Gabriel muttered to himself in defeat.

His teammates turned to him inquisitively, curious as to what misfortune had been bestowed upon him.

"W-What's wrong?" Scarlet questioned nervously, watching as the boy fervently searched his pocket.

"Lost something?" Kyzal asked.

Gabriel's eyes trailed towards Ray, looking almost desperate in their purple gaze. "I didn't give the artifact to _you,_ did I?"

Ray shook his head. Indicating the negative.

"Did you drop it?" The hacker enquired, tilting his head to the side.

"I'm not sure, I had it in my pocket and now it's just… _gone_ , man." He replied with an aura of disappointment.

"Oh _great_ , you dropped the _one thing_ we had to bring back," Kyzal bemoaned, throwing his hands up in disdain. " _how_ did you-"

"Oh, never mind, wrong pocket." The duellist chuckled with a sigh of relief, cutting Kyzal off in the process.

"Hey, you mind if we take five? It might do us well to recuperate for a little bit; make sure we have everything we need before we get to the cliff."

Scarlet eyed Gabriel and nodded, plopping herself down so she could count her ammunition.

"Well, if we're taking a break, I'll keep watch." Kyzal sighed, climbing a nearby tree and perching himself on one of the higher up branches, bow and arrow in hand.

Ray decided now would be a great time to sit down with his back against the trunk of the tree Kyzal was positioned in. The hacker opened up his messenger bag and pulled out a bottle of liquor, eyeing the glass container with an almost lustful stare.

Scarlet took a moment to gaze at the boy and gasped as she saw him take a long swig of the fluid before sticking it back in his bag, somehow seeming to just disappear as it entered. The bag didn't even deform where the bottle should have sat.

"Did you just drink _alcohol_ during the initiation?" The girl interrogated him, earning a roll of his violet eyes in response.

"What? May I remind you that we've been cheating ever since we left the temple? It's not a big deal."

"Ray! You're not _allowed_ to drink alcohol! You're _seventeen_!" The girl's face grew red as she admonished him.

"Oh, you delicate flower," Ray murmured sarcastically, completely undeterred by her scornful glare, "maybe you need it more than me, come here."

The girl stammered and furiously shook her head. "N-no! I won't do it!"

Ray shrugged. "Alright. Suit yourself."

"Hey! If you guys are done slapping each other's wrists, we've got company!" Kyzal yelled down from his perch in the tree before jumping down and rolling to break his fall.

"We'll discuss this later…" Scarlet grumbled.

"As you wish."

"Are you done now? Good. As there is a lot of Grimm on their way here, no doubt heading for those ruins," Kyzal pointed towards the stampede of Grimm heading towards the four of them, dust billowing in their wake, concealing their true numbers.

"If we let _those_ Grimm reach the students, they're not gonna make it, guys."

"They'll be overwhelmed." Ray stated.

"And ultimately, won't finish the initiation." Gabriel added.

Scarlet's eyebrows furrowed and she wrapped her fingers around Crimson Brigade.

When duty calls, the girl's lessons and training have taught her that she must answer. This was one of the moments where she was honour-bound to take up arms and fight the storm. To hold back the torrential downpour of tragedy, to stay put when the clashes of angst and fear strike her.

If students needed _her_ help, then she would do everything in her power to fulfil that request.

"Then we hold the line." Her resolute gaze fell upon the three males in her midst, instilling determination and a modicum of fear into _almost_ all of them. Her index finger extended in Kyzal's direction.

"Kyzal, get yourself a height advantage and pick them off," She approached him and he noticed the fire burning in her eyes, "I need you to prioritise targets and fire at will."

The archer nodded as his hood was once more back over his face and he climbed the same tree from before.

"Gabriel, Ray," Scarlet demanded their attention like a flashing red light, "you're with me, we're the ones that have to cut them down, thin their ranks to make our comrades' lives easier. I do not give a _damn_ what you do, so long as it kills Grimm. Understood?"

 _Simple instructions, works well on paper. Practical assessment? Eh… we'll have to see._

"Yes ma'am." Gabriel replied, a pair of cards drawn in each hand.

Ray shrugged, "How valiant…" before a crystalline thrumming pierced the silence. Two chimes resonating at slightly different frequencies as he firmly grasped twin violet, luminescent swords.

"Duel wielding?" Gabriel turned to him with a smirk on his face, "you've got balls for doing that with no defences."

"I can handle it." The hacker replied.

The first wave of Grimm was charging headlong like a fleet of ships, eager to rip into each of them without merciful qualms.

Clawed paws and bared teeth exposed, so terrifyingly ugly, it should have been illegal. Their black hides as dark as the devil and equally as unforgiving.

They would all die a quick and bloody death.

The first of the beasts, an alpha beowolf, was viciously _skewered_ on Crimson Brigade's dual bardiche blades, the girl wielding the weapon following through with a 15mm high explosive round blasting through the creature's armoured chest, blowing out the back of its body in a shower of flesh and bone.

That was the first shot fired.

It _also_ got their attention.

A sadistic grin crossed Miss Rubine's face as her tiny frame rushed into the heat of battle like an F-5 class tornado, mincing the Grimm indiscriminately as they came within striking distance.

Black and gold arrows flew through the air, striking down foes with a whisper quiet flick.

Kyzal darted from tree to tree, using the shade of the forest canopy to conceal his location as he dispatched several more Grimm.

The boy didn't even acknowledge the decaying corpses of his enemies as they became limp and crumpled to the ground. The cadavers left behind were filled with multiple arrows protruding from their matted fur and broken armour.

A pulse of Aura sent to his quiver coated his next arrow with a layer of burn Dust, giving his next shot incendiary properties. The boy quickly drew the arrow, nocked it and launched it deep into the bowels of a lone Ursa. The dust activated upon impact and effectively set the beast ablaze. The temperature from the arrow boiling its blood and cauterizing the wound, ensuring an agonising death.

Kyzal, unsurprisingly, had managed to take down three others in the time it took for that dust to ignite.

Gabriel had taken to mixing things up a little, fluently alternating between amputating Grimm with his cards to crushing their skulls with the business ends of his staff, each tip possessing a heavy head that added weight and power to his strikes.

Purple plasma surrounded each end and every time he hit something, it would seemingly force them back with incredible power. Additionally, his purple eyes glowed whenever he used this power, little bolts of lightning occasionally shooting out of his irises.

The boy thumbed his holsters and withdrew six cards, loosely gripping them between his fingers. He turned to a pack of beowolves and pushed his aura into his cards, the intricate reaper design beginning to glow in an amethyst hue.

Before the creatures could so much as blink, Gabriel whipped his cards towards them at a blinding speed, each card hitting their marks with laser precision.

Limbs were severed, blood was spilled, and bones were shattered. The reaper cards tore through the Grimm like flechette rounds, stopping at nothing as the Dust detonated in mixtures of elemental storms.

Ray had no interest in picking off the cannon fodder, that was child's play.

Instead, the hacker was looking out for the bigger fish. The smarter, faster and far more deadly Grimm, capable of laying waste to entire settlements in the span of an hour.

"We got an alpha beringel! Eleven o'clock!" Ray's ears registered Kyzal's call out from above and his head immediately swivelled in the direction indicated.

"Well, I'm a little preoccupied right now!" Gabriel yelled in response, "Ray, you take this one!"

Ray's trademark smirk made its appearance as the boy cautiously approached the being.

Now _this_ was a real challenger.

Ray twirled his swords in a windmill motion, their violet tips leaving behind a glowing tracer of light that slowly faded.

The beringel seemed to understand what was transpiring and Ray noticed it completely disregard the other three and advance towards him.

"Come on, you dumb ape," Ray taunted in confidence, wolfish grin permanently adhered to his smug face, "You want breakfast? You gotta _catch it..._ "

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **This was fun to write, especially Ray's complete disregard for the rules. They were meant to be broken after all.**

 **Also, I** _ **completely**_ **forgot to mention this before, but Kyzal and Gabriel are both characters of Xera's design, not mine. He let me use them to fill in the other half of the team.**

 **So, with that information, know that he is free to use them as he sees fit in Rogue Huntsman and if that occurs, chances are that I might have very little to do with it.**

 **Take note of that alcohol by the way, it plays a very pivotal role in the story to come.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter,** _ **Favourite, Follow**_ **and** _ **Review**_ **it if you like the story so far and have anything to say on what's occurring. I love getting reviews, especially if they're constructive toward the story.**

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


	9. Chapter 9

**{Transparency}**

Bullshit.

There was no way that monkey could have predicted the somersault Ray was about to perform, but lo and behold, it _did_ and now he was paying the price.

"' _Cut them down'_ she said. _'We need to make our comrades' lives easier'_ she said." The boy mocked his partner's orders.

"They're no fucking comrades of mine..."

Ray slowly pulled himself up out of a newly formed crater with a groan and his eyes tracked the beringel slowly stalking towards him.

The bastard's lucky hit had instilled an aura of confidence in the beast. This confidence was severely misplaced.

"Ray will you _stop_ with the theatrics and kill it already?!"

Ray dismissed Kyzal's complaint and tightened the grip on his swords.

" _Very well..._ "

Ray's eyes skimmed over the terrain and latched onto an upturned boulder. Knowing it would give him a height advantage, he rushed forward, jumped off of the tip and soared over the beringel's head, watching as it's bulging iris tracked him. He landed softly behind the Grimm and was forced to dodge an overhead swing from the creature's huge arm. This move allowed him to take the opportunity to rush inside the beringel's guard, delivering unto the beast a series of fast, light attacks, attempting to wear down the thick, plated bone armour concealing its chest.

Unfortunately, it did _nothing_ , despite the blades Ray wielded being sharper than an obsidian dagger – mind you, those are some of the sharpest things known to man – the hard light wasn't even able to scratch the surface.

Instead of wounding the beringel, Ray only succeeded in pissing it off.

This was demonstrated by Ray getting once more sent through several trees, destroying the trunks as he careened through them and crashed landed into the last, burrowing into the base of the trunk.

" _Okay_..." Ray grumbled as he destroyed his light blades and brushed off the debris that had stockpiled on his once pristine jacket, "Time for a _different_ approach..."

He knew that beringels - especially those of the alpha variant - were exceptionally strong, their arms alone were capable of shattering bones, effectively turning the skeletal structure of its victims into powder.

That was but _one_ of its offensive capabilities. He did _not_ want to find out the others.

Those previous hits he received had done nothing but piss Ray off. He was furious, tired, and denied the opportunity to have a relaxing drink before getting attacked by a stampede that seemingly appeared out of _nowhere_.

 _Honestly, where did they come from? It's like the fuckers all just randomly spawned in and collectively agreed to fuck with us._

 _Fucking outrageous..._

Shaking his head to remove the cobwebs, he focused on the creature's other statistics.

Aside from its strength, it was deceptively intelligent and fast, meaning he would have to outplay his opponent, rather than brute force it.

It's hide was dense and its armour was unyielding.

If he couldn't cut through it or smash it, he needed to find a useful alternative.

The question was; where were its weaknesses?

Nothing is ever built to last and while beringels were by far some of the more uncommon Grimm variants, they have been slain before.

Ray mulled over this during his brief time inside the carcass of a former tree before sighing. He was down to 44% Aura strength, tired from all the walking, and just wanted to get this over with so he could take a nap.

You know what? To hell with battle strategies, he was furious at this thing and it needed to die.

"Fuck it, I'll improvise."

Ray stood up after pulling himself out of the tree and waited for the beast to approach him, watching inertly as it stormed towards him on all fours.

It was none the wiser to what Ray had in mind, he wasn't quite sure himself, but that didn't matter right now.

The _second_ it reached striking distance, a nexus of violet, interlocking hexagonal cells appeared right before Ray's body. Anchors spawned behind him, digging into the ground and fortifying his construct. The nexus materialised in a few short moments, creating what was effectively a hard-light barrier, shielding him from the beringel's assault.

When the Grimm collided with the shield, its momentum was killed instantly and the bastard face-planted the barrier with the kinetic energy of a freight train. Its face was immediately crushed beyond all recognition, heavily stunning it with the most efficient possible headache inducer… ramming an immovable object with your head.

It had a face only a mother could love to begin with, but now?

Let's just say this beringel's romantic career was just about over.

Taking this brief moment of respite to breathe, Ray lowered the shield and proceeded to generate multiple tendrils – at the expense of his already deteriorating Aura reserve – intent on stabbing each through the beringel like a damn pin cushion.

The beast before him had less than a second to recover before every single hard-light strand forced their way through the flesh beneath its armpits, piercing the thick tissue like hypodermic needles.

From there, Ray had what was essentially multiple probing tools for the anatomy of this hideous monstrosity, mapping its vital organs out like a cartographer would for an undiscovered landmass.

Ray found that, ironically, the biggest weakness the Alpha had, was the weakened structural integrity of its ribcage, most likely due to a past injury.

The chest was both its best defence and worst weakness, who knew?

Quite funny, considering its entire chest was covered by nearly two inches of heavy bone armour.

Using this information, Ray relocated the tendrils and began drilling them through the bone like a surgeon, locking themselves into place once they had found their designated positions.

"Open wide~" The boy taunted menacingly in a lilting tone as he commanded the hard-light strands to begin expanding inside each rib.

The pain the being was going through must've been unimaginable, as Ray's physical connection to each cable allowed him to feel the bones slowly fracture and break as the shards began to tear through flesh.

At this point, the Alpha was no longer stunned, but in so much _agony_ that it was physically incapable of moving. It wasn't long until Ray felt the ribcage begin to fail and witness the chest of the beringel start to lacerate.

This created holes to insert dangerous objects into.

The beringel was at the perverted mercy of Ray now.

Whatever the boy decided to do, it would die all the same, where its ribcage once held its chest aloft, preventing the bone chest plate from crushing its organs, the skeletal structure was now as good as fucked.

It was only Ray keeping this thing alive in absolute misery.

Ray spared a moment to smirk sadistically and take a look inside his messenger bag, ignoring the pitiful whimpers and irregular breaths the beast released as he ransacked the accessory. His fingers brushed against steel vials of Dust, small canisters he would use as an emergency battery for Darkstar and Helix.

Without hesitation, he pulled each one out, holding them between his fingers and maintaining his vice-like grip on the beringel as it was essentially crucified by his semblance.

Ray noticed numerous gashes running the length of its chest, each puncture wound secreting a gelatinous, dark liquid that held the consistency of tar.

He took two steps forward and inserted two Dust vials into each cut.

He was going to turn this brute into a bomb.

Ray took a single step back and studied his work, still ignoring the beringel's pleas for a quick death.

It was going to get anything _but_.

He felt as though it was wanting something though, something that would add even _more_ insult to injury. An inquisitive finger curled around the boy's chin as he mused over whatever nefarious addition he could make.

Many things came to mind, including, but not limited to; force feeding it a lightning Dust crystal, performing electroshock therapy and simultaneously detonating the other Dust, though, that was far too merciful in his eyes.

He could scalp the being with his knife and feed it the remains before once more igniting the Dust.

However, his fingers snapped together as his mind came to a just conclusion and his hand once more dove back inside his bag and grasped the neck of his liquor bottle.

He slowly pulled out the litre bottle and stared into it with a modicum of regret before unscrewing the cap and taking a nice long swig.

"You know… this liquor is some of the strongest consumer alcohol you can buy," Ray spoke informatively, addressing the beringel with such carelessness, "It's called Acolyte, the very _best_ whiskey Atlas has to offer."

The boy held the bottle in the air, observing how the sun's rays passed through its green stained glass.

" _Officially_ , the drink is supposed to be 45% alcohol. Though… chemical analysis suggests otherwise… fifty to sixty percent. Enough to kill a small child. Crazy, _right?_ "

The hacker received nothing but gargled chokes in response from the Grimm before him, as if it was even capable of speech to begin with.

"There's a reason this alcohol is sold _only_ to Huntsmen and Huntresses. Apparently, anyone without Aura that decides to drink this will become wasted in five minutes, contract alcohol poisoning within fifteen, and partial liver failure within thirty if they don't get their stomach pumped beforehand."

The boy chuckled. "It should be worth noting however, that just _one_ bottle of this stuff costs upwards of two hundred and thirty Lien, but you?" Ray's eyes switched focus from the bottle of Acolyte to the beringel. " _You can have it for free..._ "

The way Ray's tone dropped an octave painted him as a complete sociopath. If Grimm were capable of emotion, of _fear,_ it would have most definitely soiled itself.

Just the sinister atmosphere Ray exuded, the pure apathy, and utter _boredom_ whilst torturing a defenceless creature – soulless beast or not – would have made many a grown man shed a tear.

Ray quickly closed the distance between him and the Alpha before forcing the remains of his drink down its open mouth and throat, the orifice attempting to regurgitate it as the Alpha's lungs tried desperately to remove the foreign contaminate.

Unfortunately, they did not possess enough strength as soon as Ray ordered one of the strands to immobilise its diaphragm, preventing it from contracting in order to draw oxygen into the lungs.

He was tormenting it by causing untold amounts of physical trauma to its skeletal structure and suffocating it by completely removing its ability to breathe.

Helpless didn't even come _close_ to describing the Alpha's state, as it's lungs and stomach filled up with a burning liquid that was capable of acting as an aggressive catalyst for the fire Ray was about to ignite.

Ray stopped and downed the last little drop of liquor in the bottle before peeling the beringel's mouth open even wider and shoving the whole damn bottle down its throat, the strength in Ray's arm crushing and shattering the glass, carving into flesh as the pieces slid down its throat, causing even wider and longer slashes in the process. Ray may have cut himself on the glass shards, but what remained of his Aura cleaned it up before a problem was presented.

Ray took a step back from the Alpha beringel and focused Aura into his right hand as he destroyed the tendrils inside the creature's chest.

He could hear the beringel attempt to flush its lungs with a fresh supply of oxygen, only to choke and splutter due to the alcohol and glass splinters inside the fleshy airbags, and the black blood running down its throat.

Ray pushed his violet Aura into the tip of his fingers as he brought them closer to one of the many Dust batteries stuffed inside the Grimm like a turkey. He coiled his middle finger and held it back with the tip of his thumb, storing kinetic energy in his tendon before releasing it all, striking the end of the power cell with a small flick and setting a chain reaction in motion.

The Alpha was launched backwards into several trees, bouncing off of each like a pinball before settling in a muddy ditch. The Aura stored in the tip of his finger had dramatically amplified the force of his flick, driving the beringel back much harder than it would have normally.

Ray figured that if the beringel had no qualms over hurling him around like faecal matter, then surely it wouldn't mind if he returned the favour.

The Dust had begun to ignite like sticks of thermite, producing a violent exothermic reaction that roasted the beast like a suckling pig.

This, in turn, led to the ignition of the highly flammable spirit Ray had forced down its oesophagus, slowly combusting and building up pressure inside the creature's body.

This pressure would only be contained for so long.

Smoke and sparks continued to violently surge out of the creature's mouth, building up the improvised explosive device he had just created.

Ray loved theatrics, showing off was something he _thoroughly_ delighted in because it inflated his ego and encouraged him to go _bigger_.

"Bottoms up asshole."

Ray began to slowly turn and walk in the opposite direction, smirking to himself as he followed the sounds of combat in the distance.

Before he knew it, the explosion arose. And _boy_ did Ray underestimate its force.

The shockwave alone shook Ray and disturbed his balancing, the hacker, as a result, instantly staggered over a loose twig and faceplanted the soil.

 _Thank the gods no one saw that, right?_

Ray opened his eyes to witness a black vapour painting the adjacent area like a modern art piece, and little wet masses of flesh and serrated splinters of bone flew unpredictably through the air, striking him in the back and legs as they pinged off of everything else, settled, and began fumigating a black smoke in deterioration.

Ray's beanie had also been knocked off of his head, embarrassingly exposing his curly golden locks to the world.

Short back and sides, slightly longer on top. Efficient, cheaper and far more suitable for combat and hacking than long, unkempt hair will ever be.

A lock of blonde hair obscured a part of his vision as he pushed himself up and leaned against a tree for support. He brushed it out of his face and quickly reclaimed his violet beanie, brushed it off and pulled it back over his head.

Ray plucked the scroll out of his jacket pocket and gauged his Aura.

Things were… not looking too good for the hacker.

" _20%?!"_ The boy exclaimed, "I need to work on my resource management..." Ray exhaled heavily as he flicked through his biometric readouts.

Another issue made itself known too, the mechanical hemisphere of his mind had used up a good 67% of its stored power from overeager usage.

The boy had pushed his mind and body too far and he was now starting to feel the after-effects; fatigue sank into his muscles and his knees buckled against the weight of his own body, his eyelids now felt heavier and he could physically feel his thought processes gradually slowing down to compensate for the lack of power.

He was crippled now, decisively so, and only reliance in his current teammates would be able to grant him survival during this initiation.

For now? He was just going to stand there for a moment and rest or something…

* * *

Scarlet leaned back to avoid yet another swipe from the beowolf she was facing. The clawed hand just glancing past her face and barely avoiding her nose.

In fierce retaliation, she brought Crimson Brigade forward and leapt as she jabbed the beast in the crook of its neck, her blades wounding it, but not enough to kill it.

Still, it must have hurt like a bitch considering the minor howl the beast released.

"Scarlet! Watch your left!"

Gabriel's warning was enough to convince her to roll under the legs of the beowolf she was facing and steer clear of an underhand swing from another.

Luckily, the second beowolf had managed to successfully uppercut its friend in the jaw, dazing the creature and additionally initiating a fight between the two.

Scarlet's red eyes watched curiously as the two creatures actually began to duke it out, the one from before bouncing back with a swipe of its left paw, clawing the second beowolf in the chest and spilling black blood across the ground.

Beowolf A then charged beowolf B, snapping and biting at its brethren in pure, undiluted hatred. Beowolf B managed to redirect beowolf A's maw and swiftly kill it by biting down on its neck and twisting until a revolting snap occurred.

Before the beast could even revel in its small victory, a golden arrow struck it between its eyes as Kyzal leapt on to a branch above Scarlet and wolf whistled, drawing the girl's attention and redirecting it towards an Ursa making its way towards her.

"I'll give you a boost!" The boy offered, holding his hand towards the girl.

Scarlet took his cue, readjusted her grip on the shaft of her weapon and leapt towards Kyzal's hand.

She grasped his forearm with her left hand and he did the same. His calloused fingers locking around her arm and refusing to let go.

With a grunt, Kyzal swung the smaller girl with as much strength as he could muster underneath his perch like a trapeze.

When he released her, she performed a flawless backflip and brought her bardiche above her head with both hands, preparing a stabbing action as she neared the Ursa.

The oblivious creature had become distracted by the many glowing cards orbiting Gabriel Stryker like an asteroid field, striking down Grimm in a 360-degree area around him.

He was controlling them with the tips of his fingers, which were glowing the same tyrian hue as his eyes. The Reapers were cutting through Grimm with effortlessness before he recalled them and rerouted them towards another wave, shredding them too.

Scarlet reached the Ursa and plunged Crimson Brigade's spear tip through the base of its skull, penetrating all the way through and embedding itself into the dirt below the creature.

It body-slammed the ground when Scarlet landed between its shoulder blades, knocking whatever wind out of it before she withdrew her weapon and turned to Kyzal with an approving nod.

This coincided with Gabriel finishing of the last of this wave by pinning a creep to the ground with all 52 of his playing cards, turning the thing into mincemeat and reforming the whole deck before slotting it back inside his holster.

"Does anybody know where you can find a lazy, beanie wearing asshole?" Gabriel asked between heavy breathing.

Kyzal leapt down from his branch and dusted himself off beside Scarlet before shrugging. "I don't know, maybe that Alpha creamed him and left only a pink smear in his memory."

Scarlet swatted the boy on his shoulder with a scowl. "Don't say that! He could be hurt!"

"On the contrary..." A monotonous voice called out from behind a bush. The trio turned to the right and saw the source brush past the plant and collapse on the ground in exhaustion, "I'm still alive. Sorry to disappoint."

"Actually, I'm glad to see you're still with us, pal. That Alpha give you some trouble?" Gabriel questioned, sitting on the ground beside him.

"More than I care to admit. Cost me my whole damn bottle of Acolyte too, _bastard_..." Ray sluggishly replied.

"Ray!" Scarlet's frame came crashing down on top of the boy, straddling his waist brazenly as she firmly cupped his cheeks and assessed him. "Are you okay?! A-are you injured?! Do you need any medical assista-"

The girl was cut off by Ray's hand covering her mouth and throwing her off of him as he laid on the ground.

"Scarlet, I'm fine."

"Your Aura strength suggests _otherwise_ , you're down to 19% and you only fought _one Grimm_." Kyzal argued, speaking matter-of-factly as he held his scroll before his golden eyes. He shrugged his hood off and approached Ray coolly, placing Deliare around his shoulder.

"I've had worse, been a while since I've fought Grimm anyway, I expected to be a little rusty." Ray replied, folding his arms behind his head as he closed his eyes.

" _Rusty?_ That was an Alpha beringel and a small one at that. You should've only lost about 15%, _if_ that." Kyzal eyed the boy suspiciously, feeling something was off about the hacker but couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"My Aura is paper-thin and I use my semblance consistently, did you seriously expect me to punch it to death? Of course not, I'm _going_ to bleed Aura when I'm using it to fight." Ray countered, not even sparing a moment to glance at the marksman.

Kyzal frowned, "Then you need to work on that, if we're on a team, I don't wanna be the one to drag your ass out of trouble when you inevitably burn through your supply."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll work on it, _whatever."_

Ray sat up and opened his eyes to observe the area out of boredom. To say the least; it was destroyed, trees had become uprooted and splintered _,_ the ground was unsettled and pieces of mud were kicked up with craters littering the surface.

"Seems like I missed out on all the fun, what a shame."

Gabriel chuckled, "Hell, you probably had the easiest task, those beowolves are relentless bastards."

"Yeah? Try getting thrown through several trees, Gabe, let me know how _that_ works out for you." Ray replied with a strong indication of antipathy.

This was not a wise choice of words.

The gasp that arose from Scarlet's ajar mouth only confirmed it as the girl went from counting her ammunition to throwing herself at Ray again.

"You were _what?!"_ Her level of concern was expressed with the high pitched screech the erupted from her mouth and her lack of understanding the concept of personal space as her face was essentially pressed up against his, her aggressive manhandling bordered on _groping_ as she viciously patted him down in search for even the _slightest_ contusion.

" _Scarlet_ … would you _please_..." Ray struggled to breathe against her petite frame.

Credit where credit was due, she was a _lot_ stronger than she led others to believe.

With a grunt, he attempted to push her off of him, but fatigue from semblance overuse rendered it no use. The boy lamented in his hard luck and decided to just consent to her examination – not like he much of a choice – much to the amusement of the other two, who had taken the liberty of snickering in the background.

A lime green wave silently swept over the four of them, sending both calming comfort and shivers through their bodies, specifically Kyzal's.

It was bright, fast, and unexpected, leaving more questions than answers as it continued on its path, illuminating everything as it went.

"Did you… feel that?" Kyzal asked hesitantly, watching the pulse as it passed and slowly faded.

"No, but knowing that I'm definitely not tripping on anything and vividly hallucinating a green light is a nice reassurance of my sanity."

The four of them all subconsciously decided to huddle a little closer and grip their weapons a little tighter.

"I have a _bad~_ feeling about this..." The dull crystalline hum that passed with the green light almost made Gabriel's comment hard to hear, though it fell on deaf ears anyway as no one seemed focused enough to reply.

Ray's sensors were quick to begin blaring a series of urgent and downright terrifying warnings.

"Uh oh..." Ray murmured to himself as his head began pointing in the direction of the relics, eyes widening at the torrential wave of pure, destructive energy rushing towards them at unhindered speeds. He stood up, continuing to gaze in the direction his sensors warned him of. His violet orbs thoroughly scanned the forest, desperately searching for whatever was heading towards them.

The other three soon followed him and got to their feet, fingers delicately lingering over their respective weapons.

"What is it?" Scarlet asked, looking anxiously at Ray's resolute face.

Ray, without looking, placed a finger against her lips as he strained his ears. Muted sounds of popping and crackling could be heard, though it was very familiar…

Ray's memory banks tried hastily to identify the sound.

He had _heard_ that sound before, but _where_ did he recognise it from?

It was… it was almost like the kind of sound you'd hear from wood…

Specifically, when it was set on… _fire…_

"Hit the deck!"

Ray spun 180 degrees and tackled his companions to the ground as a glaring orange wave shot past them, followed by temperatures of extreme magnitude.

Using what little Aura he had left, Ray forced light into his gauntlets and formed a shield that covered them from all angles, the dome-shaped shield defending them from… nothing _._

 _What?_

Ray slowly peeked an eye open to see that he had done all of that for nought.

What caught him most off guard was the amber glow that had swept over and lingered on everything around them; the terrain, the trees, the grass, and every single leaf in sight, and it was emitting temperature so hot, he could have roasted marshmallows from 25 metres away.

That was the issue though, everywhere was rapidly increasing in temperature, except the _one_ spot Ray and the other three occupied.

"What the hell...?" Kyzal pushed himself up and sat on his knees as he examined the area around them.

"Don't see that everyday… what is this Ray?" Gabriel questioned the hacker.

After deeming that it was safe to do so, Ray dispersed his hard-light shield and brought his left arm before him, lightly pressing a capacitive button along Darkstar's surface.

The four hard light fabricators began to shift around, the two on the top slid to the back using rails and the two on the bottom rotated round in a clockwise motion, taking the empty space the first two left behind.

A panel on the outside of the vambrace opened up and out popped a series of scanners, sensors and cameras used to analyse the environment. As soon as the gauntlet had reconfigured, a holographic display appeared on top and had begun the procedure of scanning the ground and foliage.

Information about this energy began flowing into Ray's heads-up display ruthlessly and the boy's mind suddenly went into overdrive as the readings came through.

Scarlet, too curious and naive to know when not to do something, slowly reached out her hand to touch the glowing blades of grass by her feet.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you..." Ray alerted her, his violet eyes flashing her a warning she could not ignore.

"W-why not?" She asked nervously. Closing her fist and drawing her arm back.

"Because the area around us, excluding this little air pocket we're in, has just exceeded 1000 degrees. Unless you want your Aura melted through and your body turned into soup, I'd suggest you _don't touch it_."

Kyzal and Gabriel snapped their arms back without hesitation, not wanting to risk incredibly severe and excruciating burns.

They didn't seem to take much heed of the power that exuded from the energy blanketing the forest, as far as they were concerned; it was hot and shouldn't be touched.

Ray, on the other hand, was more focused on the fact that despite its scorching properties, not a single flame was produced from this orange veil and neither did the heat produce any embers, ash, nor smoke.

He _recognised_ this energy, not this one in particular, but his mind didn't take long to flood with a host of memories he'd rather have forgotten.

Tall, unyielding waves of freezing water towering over him and an unconscious Ly. Desperately clinging onto her limp body – bordering corpse – as he tried endlessly to reach the surface. His brain succumbing to oxygen starvation and his consciousness struggling to remain.

Merciless typhoons and torrential downpours drenching them both right to the core.

His lungs _burning,_ crying out for one gasp of air...

And at the centre of it all… _A woman_ … Seemingly more powerful than even the legendary maidens themselves…

No… He knew _exactly_ what this was…

A force of nature in every sense of the word, though nothing about it was natural at all _._

It was an Affinity.

Ray's fear of water was hydrophobia, his fear of fire?

That was just common sense.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **So, Ray's fear of water stems from a previous experience he'd never want to relive again. He knows about Affinities, and despises them for how stupidly powerful they can be.**

 **Scarlet has also taken a seriously defensive role over her peers, she likes to make sure everyone else is okay before making sure she's fine herself.**

 **Anyway, if you enjoyed this chapter, please** _ **Follow**_ **and** _ **Favourite.**_

 **I also love reading** _ **Reviews**_ **, so don't hesitate on giving me one.**

 **Have a good one.**

 **\- Hydra**


	10. Chapter 10

**{Source Code}**

Gabriel had decided that the best way to kill time was to light the tips of twigs on fire with the extreme heat of the energy that surrounded them.

The heat was so immense, that as soon as the end of the stick exited their air bubble, it instantly burst into flames. "Well, this is fun..."

It had been 15 minutes since it appeared and boredom was beginning to settle amongst the four of them, well... mostly.

Ray, given his incredibly short attention span, had decided that now would be a great time to take a nap. Scarlet still assessing him for any injuries, though, it was unanimously agreed that he was fine, just tired.

"Do you think it's going to end soon? This wasn't exactly in the brochure..." Kyzal sounded frustrated – to put it in modest terms.

Gabriel shrugged. "Man, I don't know, I hope it _does_ , this cowboy's gettin' hungry."

At the mention of hunger, Ray was quick to blink his eyes open and gently push Scarlet to one side as he sat up.

"Ah, you're awake, nice to see that," Gabriel commented, flashing a smile.

"I was never asleep, tried playing dead to ward off _this_ thing, but that didn't work." Ray gestured toward the red-clad girl sat uncomfortably close to him with her hands resting in her lap and her bright eyes fixated on his. Gabriel was honestly surprised that he hardly even acknowledged her ogling, especially since it didn't look like it concerned him that much.

"I see…"

Ray turned to pick up his messenger bag, which had made use as a temporary pillow – a unexpectedly comfy one too.

He opened the bag and his hand dove inside, it was a literal guessing game as to what he'd pull out, needless to say, both Gabriel and Kyzal did not expect Ray to suddenly remove a grill and a pack of vacuum sealed, ice Dust refrigerated steaks.

"How the _hell_ do you fit a damn _grill_ inside your bag, Ray?" Kyzal asked incredulously, golden eyes widened in disbelief.

"Trade secret." Ray replied, simpering at the boy before expanding the legs of the grill and placing it in close proximity to the edge of the air pocket.

It did _not_ take long for it to rapidly heat up.

A pair of tongs also made their way out of the bag alongside four plates.

"Peckish Ray?" Gabriel asked amusedly, raising an eyebrow.

Ray ignored the gesture as he placed one of the steaks on the grill, steam quickly rising out of the meat with a hissing sound.

"That smells nice," Kyzal idly commented as he noticeably inhaled through his noise.

"How do you like your steaks? If any of you say well-done, I'm renouncing any association with you." Ray questioned the group with a firm expression.

"Medium-rare, no more, no less." Gabriel responded instantly, the boy knew _exactly_ what he wanted.

Ray nodded in obligation before redirecting his gaze towards Kyzal. The sharpshooter raised a thumb in Gabriel's direction. "I'll have the same."

Ray added two more slabs of meat on the red-hot grill.

Scarlet was next to fall victim to Ray's inquisitive gaze, though she appeared more repelled than hungry.

"I'm um… I'm a vegetarian..." Her meek reply caught the attention of all three boys and she shrunk under their sudden attentiveness.

It wasn't what she expected though, instead of being scrutinised for her specific dietary conducts, Gabriel, Kyzal, and Ray didn't seem to mind at all.

In fact, Ray actually put the raw steak he had for her back inside its packaging, before sliding it back inside his bag and in its place, replaced the meat with plastic tub full of salad.

He handed her the container and a plastic fork to match, "Knock yourself out, kiddo." Came his only remark before the boy turned back to the grill to flip the steaks.

Scarlet stared clueless at the flexible instrument, unsure of how to react to just being presented food at the drop of a hat.

In truth, she was still astounded that none of the three males around her reacted negatively to her vegetarianism, though the initial shock rubbed off once she popped the plastic lid off of the box and stabbed a cherry tomato before daintily placing it inside her mouth and chewing it slowly.

It was fresh. As in; _straight off of the stalk_ fresh.

An appreciative hum made its way out of her nose, quickly followed by a startled yelp when Ray had lightly thrown a bottle of seasoning on her lap.

"To improve the taste," was his only reasoning as he plated up the three steaks and handed them out, keeping the last for himself.

Once more, cutlery was handed out and the four of them sat there in silence as they enjoyed their unexpected, yet welcomed lunch.

"Is this sirloin?" Kyzal asked between mouthfuls.

Ray nodded in response yet kept his eyes on the slab of meat on his plate, cutting it into small mouthfuls and sticking each in his mouth.

"It's good, mind telling me where you got it from?"

Ray rested the cutlery on his plate as he finishing chewing and swallowed the food in his mouth.

"A small butcher's shop just outside Mistral's city centre, a bit of a stroll, I know, but I have more than this if you want some in future."

Gabriel swallowed his mouthful before looking up at Ray interestedly.

"You've been to Mistral?" He asked.

"I've been to all four corners of the planet," Ray replied dryly, "Atlas, Mistral, Vacuo _and_ Vale. Mistral is by far my favourite however."

"Where do you originate from?" Scarlet, eager to get to know her partner, asked with enthusiastic eyes.

"The Abyss," Ray's response was immediate and his eyes locked onto Scarlet's with a burning sincerity before relaxing up. The boy smirked once he saw her expression, her brows were furrowed and her soft bottom lip quivered slightly.

"Okay you got me, I was _actually_ born on Vytal. You know, the shitty insignificant island we have a whole festival about biannually? I relocated to Vale when I was three months old and lived here until I turned 11," Scarlet could've sworn she saw what seemed to be a brief flash of discomfort in Ray's fluorescent violet eyes as he mentioned that last part, but it disappeared as soon as it came, almost as if there was something preventing an emotional torrent from surfacing.

It was unnatural though, not in the sense that he was keeping his emotions under lock and key, but there was something _else_ snuffing them out entirely.

This was slightly disconcerting to the young red warrior.

"Ever since I left Vale, I've never really remained in one location for more than a couple of months, at most. Always somewhere else to go, something better to do. You get the idea."

Ray's companions nodded considerately, the fire that surrounded them acting as more of a minor nuisance than a hazard now. Each of them had decided to devote their care to Ray's storytelling. Regarding the residual, searing heat around them with very little interest.

"You ever been to Menagerie?" Kyzal asked, almost keen to hear his answer.

Ray shook his head as he inhaled. "Frankly, no. Though I've heard it's _quite_ the vacation spot if you can avoid the hostile glares from the wary Faunus there. Sadly, those unfortunate people are _completely_ unwelcoming to anything even _remotely_ human, myself included. Can't really fault them though, when there's assholes in Atlas that make a complete mockery of them by imposing a racial apartheid that affects at least 90% of Solitas. Given this segregation has been going on for centuries; all because of some spooked villagers seeing a man with _pointed teeth_ for the first time and labelling him a monstrosity, I doubt I'll be seeing the tropical haven that is Menagerie any time soon."

Kyzal clearly bit off more than he could chew with that one. The loss for words all the more delaying his hesitant reply.

"Makes sense..."

"Y'know, that was quite… _what's_ the word…?" Gabriel paused for a moment.

"Detailed?" Scarlet suggested as she shovelled some spinach in her watering mouth, clearly the seasoning was doing wonders for the taste.

"Yeah, _detailed._ You've clearly done your homework."

Ray shrugged. "If there's one thing I'll remember from my father's teachings, it's that knowledge truly is power. Add that to the fact that I'm absolutely _disgusted_ by the way Humans treat Faunus on the daily and you have yourself someone that wants nothing more than to bring those responsible for this atrocious shit to justice. Learning about how things work is key to finding a solution. So yeah, I've done my homework, but that's not all I've done."

Gabriel's eyebrow raised, "What do you mean?" Those words left his mouth coated in scepticism.

Ray sat up straight and faced Gabriel directly, "Whilst researching a problem to find a solution is great and all, you still need to take _action_ in an effort to fix it. To effectively strike at the source or sources of the issue and eliminate them. I'm not going into detail, given we're being constantly monitored, but..." Ray paused, eyes snapping to one of the many cameras in the trees.

"...I'm not afraid of getting my hands a little dirty to put an end to insanity."

Gabriel slowly nodded, partially understanding what the boy alluded.

He was an agent of order, someone that worked behind the scenes to pull a few strings and set things right by doing so. Even if said strings had the potential to lead to _less than desirable_ circumstances.

"If you're interested, I'll maybe tell you when Big Brother isn't watching. Maybe over a couple of drinks, but for now, let's just enjoy this quiet moment of rest before we get back to the school. Not like we have a choice anyway."

Gabriel nodded before placing his empty plate on the ground beside him and leaning back.

Pulling his messenger bag behind him, Ray decided to lay back down and resume his idling after a rewarding meal.

Scarlet was quick to join him too. With quick use of his sleight of hand, he pulled out two lollipops, stuffing one inside his mouth and forcing the other into Scarlet's.

She didn't refuse it, not like she would have anyway, and with a pleased hum, she positioned herself so that she was lying beside him less than an arm's distance between them, and with no objection from the boy, that was where she stayed.

Ray still didn't quite know what to make of the state of affairs Ly had pressured him into. In the past 24 hours; he has returned to Vale after 6 years of continuous travelling, attended the _one place_ he's avidly tried to avoid, and met people that he both liked and despised.

But most of all, what proved to be the most prominent issue before him, the _one_ thing that has him the most aggravated and disturbed, was the presence of an affinity user.

A powerful one at that.

It'd been several years since he'd seen one, or rather, been assaulted by one.

Strong, deeply embedded recollections of a past experience he'd much sooner forget had forever tainted his image of their kind like paint on a canvas.

He wasn't sure how Lylac and himself made it out of that situation alive, but ever since that day, he had done nothing but loath their entire existence.

Nothing that powerful should _ever_ exist, even if it has since the dawn of humanity.

They were practically self-proclaimed gods, pillaging and terrorizing the people to their heart's content…

His father was one of them…

Suffice to say, when Ray discovered this information, he struggled to understand how this was true, how the _one_ _parent_ that loved and raised him was a being of such immense power and the weapon that the man once wielded made that power _exponentially_ more potent.

Ray's father was a man that could have achieved anything.

Except cheat death.

It was hard, the death of Orion marked the point in Ray's life where he discovered that the world he lived in was as dark as the stories he once fell asleep to.

A slow, gradual decline into cynicism and misanthropy followed after that day. Ray's once perfectly balanced state of mind became quickly corrupted, twisted beyond its original condition into a mechanical, machine-like soul that cared very little for itself or its environment.

With Lylac's presence being his one remaining link to humanity, Ray became colder than even the Schnee patriarch himself. If it were not for her existence, the sheer resent Ray felt would have been unleashed upon the world a long time ago.

It was only because of _her_ , that Remnant could sleep soundly at night.

That said, Ray had planned and built many things over the past 6 years that have labelled him as both a hero and a villain, depending on who you asked.

For six years, nothing had been seen or heard from Ray and Lylac Chroma. Only whispers in the dark, rumours merely glimpsed at by Remnant's information networks.

This led to speculation, especially since the boy was the son of one of the most powerful affinity users and intelligent men in the last century.

Though the world was indeed curious, some people going so far as to show concern and search for them, Remnant had far larger problems to pay attention to, especially with the rise of the notorious hacker group going by the name of Sentinel.

So _feared_ was this mysterious organisation, that the entire kingdom of Atlas had cried out desperately for cybersecurity experts and top freelance hackers to defend its deepest, darkest secrets.

Sentinel holds the digital world by a strangling mesh of code and shackles.

No secret too big, no message too small, Sentinel's reach was inescapable.

 _No one_ was safe from its all-seeing eye.

It _dominated_ the digital domain, leaving nothing but shattered firewalls and fried computer components in its wake as it continued its destructive global campaign.

Even so, little does the world know that Sentinel was but an intricate creation, a pet project, even.

It was an elaborate scheme designed to keep the world on its toes, to force it to adapt to the new rules of engagement.

Humanity and Faunus-kind fought a war on two fronts, with both the Grimm and Sentinel attacking on a consistent basis; new technologies had surfaced, new ways of thinking, programming, and manufacturing had all played their parts in the survival of Man and Faunus.

What nobody understood, save the rare exception, was the ingenious deception behind Sentinel's existence.

There was no 'group of hackers', that was all just _assumed_. A fabrication by the media with the intention of suppressing the public's fears.

There was only _one_ functioning member of this dishonourable organisation: Ray.

The _whole world_ believed that Sentinel, a huge thorn in the side of many a dishonest company, was a group of individuals sat behind computers and every attack made to these less that reputable corporations was a collaborative effort.

Instead, it was just a boy and his incredibly augmented mind.

They were all played like a cheap fucking fiddle.

He couldn't care enough to pity the world if it ever discovered the truth behind Sentinel. Whatever fear that would take over, whatever irrationality he'd see engulf the seas of the common people, it would all collapse together and govern every action they took into stopping Ray.

The world need not nor even deserve to know that someone as smart as he could exist, to know that a single mind can oh-so effortlessly control the circulation of all information inside the digital domain.

Secrets were a weapon; a weapon Ray was not afraid to use in order to establish dominance. For the public's undoing would not be the Grimm, nor the tensions revolving around the war over the horizon, but in the deepest, darkest, and most profound confidences kept hidden away in the systems of the world.

He knew that information, and by extension power, was held tightly in the palm of his hand, waiting to be used against those that would seek to disturb the delicate balance of society.

So, he let them conjure up their conspiracies, their theories around Sentinel's existence. For it mattered very little to him what the people of this world thought about the 'organisation' that he had constructed.

His bitterness for the world around him grew every day, thus did his ability to hack and control technology.

Ray's mind was altered to become the perfect fusion of man and machine, and thus the 17-year-old lived in two separate realms.

One was digital, the other was reality.

This made the manipulation of digital assets a second nature to him.

He was smart, _very smart_ , he could reconstruct the meticulous machinery of bullhead airship using muscle memory alone, whilst simultaneously programming a virus so complex, it could shatter the defences of a _thousand_ companies that needed to change.

The likelihood of him performing such a delicate task was very small though, he'd have to find both the time and energy to do so.

Such resources were rare, after all.

The fact remained that Ray was the most powerful hacker on the planet, sitting on a literal goldmine of top-secret information any info-broker would empty their wallets for and an almost infinite supply of money.

And _yet_ , here he was; laying down with his head resting on his messenger bag, arms folded behind him and sucking on a strawberry flavoured lollipop as he watched the clouds above him distort into vaguely recognisable shapes.

This quiet, peaceful position served as a means to kill time while him and his companions waited for the blistering, outrageous display of incendiary power to dwindle and eventually die.

Boredom had long since made itself at home amongst them, Gabriel and Kyzal even going so far as to play a small game of cards, despite Gabriel missing some due to their previous hostile encounter.

How the duo got through that small detail was ignored by Ray, and to an extent, Scarlet. The pair content with just cloud watching in silence.

Occasionally, what remained of a creature of Grimm would pass by them, slowly stumbling over to them in a futile effort to take all four teenagers on, regardless of its dangerously crippled condition.

None ever got within three feet of their safe air pocket without collapsing and disintegrating before the group's eyes.

It was but a mild distraction in a sea of monotony.

Then again, isn't that the core foundation of life itself?

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **I liked writing this chapter, exposition stuff is always great and allows me to stretch my legs a little.**

 **Ray's a complicated character, built up over several months worth of concepts and spur of the moment ideas, so stuff like this won't be rare in the slightest.**

 **Next chapter won't be like that though... ;)**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, leave a _Favourite_ and _Follow_ if you did.**

 **A _Review_ would be nice too...**

 **Have a good one.**

 **\- Hydra**


	11. Chapter 11

**{Some Assembly Required}**

43 minutes.

Do you know how long 43 minutes can feel?

Yeah, _alright_ , it might not have been anywhere near 6 years, but during that expenditure of time I could have been doing a _lot more_ than laying on the ground daydreaming.

To be quite frank, I couldn't give a _damn_ who this affinity user was. He/she/it wasted 43 minutes of _my_ time.

And for what? Dare I ask?

To _protect_ the other students in the forest?

This was _supposed_ to be a fucking initiation test. 'Test' being the keyword in that sentence.

The whole point of this battleground simulation was to _test_ potential students to determine whether they deserve a place in this godforsaken school or not.

But no, clearly _someone_ didn't agree with that.

What a nightmare…

Seriously, due to this display of supremacy, I had to cook for three complete strangers.

That's my time _and_ my food wasted.

Needless to say, I was pretty pissed when we returned to the school, of course, I didn't outwardly express it, but internally; I was raging.

And to delicately apply the icing to this cake of shit, we were all going to be amassed into the amphitheatre - _yet again_ – for some idiotic, time-honoured ceremony.

 _No way_ was I going to willingly walk into that tacky showground all for some… _inane_ _ritual_.

* * *

"C'mon Ray! We're gonna be late!" Scarlet's whining served only to further aggravate Ray, who in his tired state, was in no position to resist against her insistent lugging.

Turns out he _was_ going to that ceremony, whether he liked it or not.

The collar of his jacket, on the other hand, was doing _surprisingly well_ as it withstood the strength of Scarlet's iron grip.

"This is pointless…" Ray muttered, unfortunately just within earshot of his smaller partner.

In response, Scarlet pulled harder against the collar of his jacket with a pout on her face. She was excited, thus had no intention of holding back due to her reluctant partner.

Gabriel and Kyzal watched as they casually trailed behind them, taking much pleasure in watching the boy in the violet beanie suffer.

"Yeah Ray, we're gonna be late!" Gabriel called over to him, dropping the boy a coy smirk, "Don't wanna upset the headmaster now!"

The gambler received a glare with the burning intensity of a thousand desert suns. Ray's eyes literally glowing through his narrowed eyelids.

"Don't encourage it." The boy growled, before getting his collar yanked once more by Scarlet.

They all gathered inside the amphitheatre and Ray's collar finally received the respite it deserved.

The four of them sat together, with Scarlet on the far right, followed by Ray, Kyzal and Gabriel respectively.

Ray leaned back against the backrest of his seat, turns out Scarlet was wrong, and the four teenagers were actually _early_ to the ceremony, with the first-year students just starting to file in and take their seats with their teams.

If he possessed the willpower to do so, Ray would have immediately began scanning for the affinity user responsible for the death of almost all Grimm in the forest and three of Ray's steaks.

That said, given how deeply embedded the gene is within an affinity user's system, it would take thirty minutes at the very _least_ to perform a complete scan per person until he found what he was looking for.

That was 19 hours and 30 minutes of continuous scanning.

Given he didn't have the time for such a task, he wasn't going to bother.

All he could focus on was the fact that an excited Scarlet Rubine did not possess the cognitive aptitude to _shut her mouth_.

Fingers shot up to Ray's temples as he tried to work away the headache he was accumulating.

The girl wasn't even talking to Ray, opting to engage in a conversation with Gabriel, _two seats to the left of him_.

A nudge from his immediate left brought his attention to Kyzal, the marksman donning an expression very similar to his own.

"I don't even know why we're here, I'm sure it's pretty damn obvious that we're on a team together," he whispered, "I mean, we not only picked the same chess pieces, but also spent almost the _entire duration_ of the initiation together."

Ray nodded in agreement, "As much as I would just _love_ to stick around and applaud the other teams for doing practically nothing, other than finding one another, this whole bullshit ceremony is going to be nothing but a waste of time."

"Ain't that the truth… too bad you lost your bottle of alcohol, I could sure use some right about now…"

A lightbulb in Ray's mind lit up at the mention of alcohol - quite literally, since he had status LEDs inside his head.

Bending over, he grabbed his messenger bag sat by his feet and opened it up.

Staring at him, with the light gleaming off of its smooth glass surface, was a fresh bottle of Acolyte, and next to it, champagne.

The latter _was_ going to be for celebrating him lasting his first day at Beacon, but in this moment, the boy deemed it a fine method of quelling their boredom instead.

"Yeah, _pity_ …"

Kyzal's focus switched from the empty stage to the bag and a sly smirk crawled onto his lips.

"Now we're talking…"

The four of them sat there in near silence, waiting on the remainder of the students to finish finding their places.

It wasn't long before the amphitheatre became quickly overpopulated, students all around them chatting away in a blend of white noise that went completely ignored.

Ray and Kyzal, despite being in such proximity to Scarlet's watchful gaze, were slowly downing shots of Acolyte as soon as the girl wasn't looking in their direction.

It was a race, a race to see who could get the most wasted without getting caught.

The winner? Well, they'd receive a hangover the next day and a certified badge of dishonour.

Assuming their Aura didn't burn through the alcohol first.

Which was more likely to be the circumstance?

Probably the former, Kyzal looked pretty smashed as it was.

So far, Ray was winning, clearly having far more experience in subtle drinking than Kyzal did, he was already down to 16 capfuls, ahead of Kyzal's 12.

"You're _losing_ Kyzal," Ray whispered to his newfound partner in crime, flashing a mocking grin soon after.

Ray wasn't just winning in terms of how much he had drunk, but how little the alcohol was affecting him, too. He was practically sober, save for the tingly feeling coursing throughout his nervous system and the blazing fire in his stomach.

Acolyte was some _seriously_ potent stuff, infamous for its ability to knock out even the biggest, boldest, and toughest of Huntsmen.

But Ray had a little trick up his sleeve, a trick that was genetically engrained inside of his DNA that gives him a slight edge against anything he may face off against.

Due to his training, his mind and body were conditioned to withstand a lot of punishment, to adapt to any situation, and to develop resistances to things that have even the slightest chance of killing him.

Ray had been drinking Acolyte ever since he was 16, which meant that he had a whole year's worth of resistance training by drinking it over and over again, destroying his sobriety in the process while his body biologically improved itself to better process and expel the alcohol in his system as it physically changed on the cellular level.

It could still get him drunk, just not as quickly as it would the previous time he drank it.

To boil it down; the more Acolyte Ray had, the more he could withstand its intoxicating effects.

Kyzal didn't have this advantage…

"L-losing…?" He stammered, his eyes hopelessly struggling to focus on the beanie-clad boy next to him.

"I – _hic_ – ne-never lose!"

Ray rolled his eyes, bringing another cap of Acolyte to his lips. "Keep telling yourself that…"

Within a fraction of a second, Ray downed the sweet, honey-tasting liquor, sighing as he brought the cap down and turned his attention to the stage.

"Guys! Guys! It's starting!" Scarlet was giddily bouncing up and down in her seat, her crimson eyes shining in anticipation.

The amphitheatre's ambient noise quickly dwindled into complete silence as Professor Ozpin made his way on the stage. Professor Goodwitch joined him, standing by his side like the loyal dog she was.

Ray noticed that both had the same stoic expression on their face, hinting that the nature of this ceremony wasn't as jovial and happy as most of the first-years probably hoped it to be.

Wasn't his problem though, he was just here to drink and get it over with.

That could be said for pretty much everything else he does, but that wasn't important right now.

"Silence please."

These words drew the attention of all students in the room, without hesitation, without a second thought, the room fell into a peaceful, yet deafening silence.

Ozpin's cane stood by his side, though, not an ounce of his bodyweight was placed onto the walking aid.

Ray hummed in thought. "So, it's a prop, huh?"

"That," Gabriel added, "or a weapon."

Ray nodded to him and downed another capful of Acolyte before Kyzal could inebriate himself any further. The boy had drunk more than his fair share at this point, if his slurring and slightly swaying body weren't already a dead giveaway.

Once he had swallowed the fluid, his attention was immediately given to Ozpin once more.

"Let me be the first to welcome all initiates back to Beacon. You did well. Retrieving those artefacts, however simple or difficult the task may have been, was a means to analyse your characters, your abilities, and your decisions."

Ozpin gazed around the room as he spoke, making it seem as if he was addressing each student personally, without actually referring to any of them by name.

He was effective at captivating an audience, his words magnetised and easily burning into the memories of everyone here.

Ray actually found himself listening to the headmaster's words, something that took him by surprise.

By no means did it incite him to stay longer at this school, but even the hacker had to admit that this was by far one of the more… _interesting_ things he had ever done.

Ozpin mentioned that the initiation wasn't _just_ to test an individual in combat exclusively, but as a person, an intricate culmination of a variety of different pasts and experiences.

Did this mean that Ray was one of those individuals? Was Ozpin not only assessing his abilities in combat, but also how he was naturally?

These were questions that would have to go unanswered for now.

There was something else about the man that Ray picked up on. This speech wasn't to enthuse _or_ brighten anyone's day in the slightest. Ozpin's eyes held a certain level of disinterest in the students amassed in his presence, almost seemingly apathetic to who they were or what they could do.

If that wasn't concerning, Ray didn't know what _was._

Considering that the initiation was – supposedly – designed to better aid the man in learning about an individual on a personal level, the fact that he didn't seem to give a fucking _damn_ about the students in his care made the whole thing look pointless.

"That said, your teams will be forged around your choices for which relic you decided to return with. Many of you realised this, given its simplicity, but few of you realised the true driving factor behind the chess pieces you turned in."

"Huh, so there _was_ an ulterior motive behind them, you hear that, Ray? Looks like you were wrong." Gabriel smirked at his beanie-clad associate, his comment working to jokingly belittle the boy.

Ray only rolled his eyes, taking another capful of Acolyte from Kyzal's trembling hands and downing it before the marksman spilled it all over himself.

"Each piece depicts a subconscious decision within you, whether you aware of it or not,"

Gabriel's smirk grew wider as he repeatedly rubbed salt into Ray's minor wound by jabbing his thumb in Ozpin's direction and raising his eyebrows.

"Chess plays by a spectacle of novel rules and architectural ingenuity. Through your choices, your morality was tested, your innate desires were pulled, and your personalities were derived. Each of your personal pieces depicted some combination of these three traits."

Ray's eyes narrowed.

From what he could gather, the pieces did indeed have a deeper, more primal reason behind them. It was the evaluation of a student's entire being, rather than just how good they were at fighting. In fact, the fighting had very little to do with the initiation's grading, all it did was serve to catalyse the reveal of a person's individual traits. To accelerate the process of Ozpin sussing out _who_ a person was, even behind closed doors.

It was a damn trap, and Ray fell _right_ into it.

Ozpin may have more information on him than he initially believed, and this meant bad news.

He could potentially know why Ray was here in the first place, and by extension, manipulate him into staying longer than he would like by hindering the progress of the mission Ray was sent to uphold.

 _That four-eyed motherfucker…_

"This initiation gave us a prime example of what to expect from you. _All_ of you. But do keep in mind, anything is subject to change under the slow advance of time. So, I implore you to take the energy within you and give it a purpose,"

Ray mentally scoffed.

 _Damn right, I'll be giving it a purpose. I'll be using it to get what's mine so I can get the hell out of here._

"rather than wasting the potential you may very clearly possess."

Ozpin paused for a moment, using this brief period of silence to take a hushed breath.

"Now, your teams will be formed under the rules of four. Four members, four letters, one name, and one leader. Please make your way to the stage in the order you are called."

Scarlet could barely contain her excitement as her fierce hands clamped around Ray's arm and she attempted to shake the boy, though, she only succeeded in pulling herself back and forth in the process.

"This is it! _This is it!_ " She squealed in a muted tone.

Ray pried her hands off of his arm as he boarded a grave train of thought.

A sense of doubt was looming over his mind as he dwelled on Ozpin's words, and Ray suspected that given his past, and who his father was, Ozpin may be keeping a closer eye on him than he had hoped.

Mistake, at this point, was an underwhelming term used to describe the monumental fuck up Ray had made by joining this school.

He didn't belong here, this _wasn't_ his environment, but since he was, he may have undone his six years of lurking in the dark.

Ozpin was the furthest thing from uninformed, neither was Ray, for that matter. The boy knew that Ozpin knew his father.

In fact, aside from his uncle, Ozpin probably knew Orion better than anyone else.

So, it would not be a surprise to the hacker if the Headmaster of Beacon Academy recognised Orion Chroma's _direct descendant_. It didn't help that Ray had also inherited 90% of his father's looks either, so it wasn't as if Ray could play it off. Hell, if anyone didn't know any better, they would have assumed that Ray was practically a clone of Orion.

The only giveaway?

Orion had piercing blue eyes.

Ray's eyes were violet.

The heliotrope hue that tainted his irises belonged to his godforsaken mother…

Said irises switched their focus from the blank space in front of Ray and snapped onto Kyzal suddenly deciding to drink Ray's Acolyte from the bottle.

Ray's trance was put on hold as his hands soon found their way to the bottle.

" _Shit!_ Kyzal!" Ray hissed, immediately grabbing the bottle from his grasp, "What the _fuck_ are you doing?! Are you _trying_ to get our asses kicked?!"

Ray's gaze swiftly fell upon Scarlet to the right of him and a wave of relief swept over him as he saw her eyes firmly fixed upon the stage, watching as the teams were formed with a wide smile on her face.

Ray breathed a silent sigh of relief as he took a long swig from the bottle of Acolyte and sealed it with the cap.

Kyzal, at this point, had more than his fair share of drink, thus, in order to prevent the boy from contracting severe alcohol poisoning, the archer could only watch in despair as Ray stuffed the bottle _deep_ within his messenger bag.

However, Ray didn't check the bag for any missing items…

Kyzal's hoodie was zipped up as high as it could go before he stuffed his hands inside his pockets and played the role of the innocent bystander.

Ray's eyes soon redirected their attention from his bag to the stage, as a one Team RWBY was in the process of being christened by the headmaster.

Four girls; three Human and one Faunus, though it didn't look like she wanted to reveal that fact, if the black silk bow atop her head was any indication.

They were all very much colour coordinated, especially with the Team's namesake, Ruby Rose, being primarily red with black garments mixed in to break up the pattern.

Who did _that_ remind him of…?

Ah yes, the ever eager, red-haired midget sat to his immediate right, hands once more clamped around his upper arm and shaking with excitement.

It became a solidified fact that Scarlet was very touchy-feely in the short span of time that Ray had known her.

Usually, it wouldn't be so bad, but she seemed to have a constant need to have her hands on someone else.

Maybe it was a comfort thing, Ray didn't know. What he _did_ know, on the other hand, was that he seemed to be her primary victim to lay her small hands on.

At least she wasn't abusive with it, not yet at least…

"Gabriel Stryker, Ray Chroma, Scarlet Rubine, and Kyzal Drave, please make your way to the stage."

Scarlet's squealing increased in volume and pitch as the four of them were finally becoming a single unit.

"Here goes nothing." Gabriel commented as he pulled himself up from his chair.

Scarlet literally leaped up, breaking contact with Ray as she excitedly bounced on the balls of her feet. Ray, lamenting to himself as if he were about to face execution, slowly heaved himself out of his grave, assisting the heavily intoxicated Kyzal in the process. The sharpshooter using him as a walking crutch to assist him walking to the stairs leading to the stage.

Ray caught wind of something as he grabbed his messenger bag, it felt lighter, almost as though something had been removed. He kept a lot of items in there, but even so, the change in weight was very noticeable.

Almost as noticeable as the small, muted clinking of glass coming from the inside of Kyzal's jacket.

"Kyzal…" The boy whispered as the approached the bottom of the steps, "what's in your pocket?"

The sharpshooter's eyes avidly averted Ray's, prompting those twin amethyst orbs to narrow as suspicion began to flower in his mind.

"I'll ask again," the hacker repeated, " _what's_ in your pocket?"

Kyzal, unwilling to resist Ray's unyielding glare, slightly unzipped his hoodie, revealing the neck of the champagne bottle Ray had bought for this occasion.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me…"

They finally made it to the top of the stairs and stood in an orderly line in front of Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch.

The time-kissed man inhaled through his nose before delivering his speech.

"You four retrieved the white pawn pieces, this reflects in your ability to appear to be mere cannon fodder, though, in reality, you have the most potential out of any other piece. Silent, yet deadly, the humble pawn can be the most dangerous piece in the entire game if its opponents underestimate its abilities."

As Ozpin delivered his speech, Ray was subtly wrestling Kyzal with the intent to repossess his bottle of champagne.

Bad idea…

The carbonated drink, with all the quick motions the boys made in order to take it from one another, had begun to build in pressure, and at any given moment, would launch the cork like a cannon.

" _Kyzal!_ Give me the _fucking_ bottle!" Ray hissed, knowing in full what would happen if the archer kept resisting.

"From this day forward, you four shall be known as team R- "

 _POP!_

Silence rolled over the entire amphitheatre as the small wooden plug fired out of the bottle of champagne like a bullet…

"Oh no…"

Kyzal and Ray could only watch in _abject horror_ as the cork's trajectory led it straight into the cleavage of one Glynda Goodwitch.

Hell was about to be raised.

Even Ozpin, in the midst of naming their team, spared a passing moment to look at the cork firmly embedded into the crevice on Professor Goodwitch's chest.

" _Ooohhh dear…"_ Kyzal murmured as he slowly handed the bottle to Ray and shuffled nervously to the side.

Glynda's face wore the expression of a murder. If looks could kill, Ray and Kyzal would have violently exploded.

The ground itself had begun to tremble as her face turned bright red in pure, unadulterated rage. The quaking itself growing more and more intense as her green eyes burned holes through the two boys responsible for this humiliating, yet humorous display of complete and utter disrespect.

Ray glanced over to his right to see both Scarlet and Gabriel, in the heart of this disaster, trying their damn hardest not to laugh.

Scarlet was by far the _worst_ , Ray could see her chest shaking rapidly as her face flushed behind her hands. As for Gabriel, he was desperately fighting off a grin as the corners of his lips twitched in resistance, the boy's hands never once leaving the pockets of his long coat.

Even _Ozpin,_ a man highly respected for his patient and stoic image, held a tiny glint of amusement in his eyes as he turned to his infuriated assistant.

"Are you alright, my dear?"

Not only did he have the capacity to maintain a straight face during what was likely to be the most humiliating moment in her entire career at this school, but he had the _balls_ to mock her for it.

Ray's shoulders involuntarily shrunk as he tried to make himself as small as physically possible, not like it would have any effect on his future instructor's foul mood and almost fatal intentions toward the Chroma heir.

Luckily for Ray, Ozpin was quick to take the initiative and resume his speech after very loudly clearing his throat.

"As I was saying…" he began, "you will be known from this day forward as team…" The man paused for a split second, eyeing the four quickly before deciding on what he should name their team.

"Renegades."

If Ray didn't feel the urge to quiver in fear and hide as far away as possible under the intense glare Glynda Goodwitch gave him, he would have sweat-dropped at the name his team was given.

"Led by, Scarlet Rubine."

Of _all people_ to take responsibility over the four _delinquents_ standing in front of Headmaster Ozpin and his livid assistant, of course it had to be Scarlet Rubine…

The small, red, excitable, and deadly Scarlet Rubine.

They were doomed.

Ray was calling it now; his time here was not going to go well…

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **As if it wasn't already _dead fucking obvious_ Gabriel, Kyzal, Ray, and Scarlet are a team. Big surprise, right?**

 **Also, if it wasn't made apparent before, Ray is a bit of an alcoholic, there are reasons for this, but we'll get to them later.**

 **Either way, sorry for yet another half-assed note, I literally cannot think of anything insightful to say.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, next one should be out within a week or so.**

 **Please _Follow, Favourite,_ and _Review._**

 **Have a good one.**

 **\- Hydra**


	12. Chapter 12

**{Investment}**

Awkward didn't even begin to describe how Ray felt when leaving the stage.

As if the murderous glare from Glynda Goodwitch wasn't enough, the dozens of eyes belonging to the other students ardently fixated on him made him feel very uncomfortable indeed.

No, awkward was far too underwhelming a term to describe this situation.

So much for being discrete, Ray couldn't have been more noticeable if he had a neon sign above his head saying "Wanted Criminal".

Kyzal had _really_ screwed up with that champagne bottle, especially now that Ray was holding a half empty bottle full of still alcohol.

That said, he _did_ last the first day at Beacon, but he could no longer celebrate it as he had intended.

After the newly christened team Renegades, given the abbreviated title 'RGDS', had sat down. Other teams were eventually called up and dismissed.

Ray was more focused on the blood-chilling glares Glynda Goodwitch would constantly send his way to pay any attention to any of them though.

That said, there was still that one team that disturbed him.

The last team called up quite possibly worked in coalition with the wordsmith that came up with the term 'ominous'.

They only had three members at this point in time. And the chilling reason behind this was due to the death of a male student.

The same _student_ Ray spotted through the camera feed, lying in a puddle of his own blood.

It wasn't just the fact that a student had died either, no, something far worse was presented _in addition_ to the grave situation.

Ozpin's speech on the matter.

"Unfortunately, our last is unable to present at the moment. Earlier today in the forest, one of their teammates had suffered and lost his life. As such, they have been excused from attending today's ceremony. The current standing members are as follows; Niro Ezdeil, Anoel, and Kitsuki Aeolus, forming team Elandrial (ELA)."

Avatars of each individual, accompanied by their initial, floated high above the stage onto projected holographic screens, letting Ray grow familiar with their appearances.

The recently departed student wasn't there…

Yeah, _alright_ , the death of an initiate wasn't unheard of in Beacon or its sister academies.

But the fact that Ozpin took this matter so _lightly_ had Ray's eye twitching.

He delivered it so passively and without hesitation that the man might as well have screamed 'I don't care!'.

Just how could a man tasked with protecting his students and the kingdom he resides in act so uncaring?

A 17-year-old boy died today, and his only response was a pitiful condolence and a brief mention?

A _mother_ lost her _child_ today, and all Ozpin could do was say _sorry?_

Ray was disgusted.

Death, no matter how often it happens, should never be taken lightly.

Regardless of the circumstances, whether you knew the deceased or not, the appropriate reaction to such a devastating circumstance was not whatever _bullshit_ that spewed from that man's mouth.

It was insulting, especially when that boy could have been one of the best this school had to offer.

What was confusing though, was how this boy had died.

From what Ray could see, the boy only had gashes across his chest.

Gashes that were credited to Grimm claws.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the wounds inflicted on him caused a slow, painful expiration, but the fact that the boy was killed by normal, pathetic Grimm was far too shifty for Ray to accept as the unmitigated truth.

Ray, despite how much he wanted to drop the matter and let it go, suspected that this was no ordinary death.

Because it almost seemed orchestrated…

No Grimm in the Emerald forest should have been able to kill anyone there, it was all designed to be challenging, but not _that_ life-threatening.

His theory was too far-fetched and he had no sure-fire proof of this claim, but something about the death of this unnamed warrior was so unnatural, that the hacker could not just simply allow it to slide.

But without the body, Ray had no way of finding out for certain.

And he probably never will.

* * *

The dorm room was as standard as standard could get, four beds, two desks and chairs, three bedside tables, and two dressers.

As soon as you opened the door, to the right, you would find the bathroom, and to the left, was the kitchenette.

Ray ignored both of those things and decided to instead claim the bed in the far-left corner, throwing his messenger bag on the floor beside it, kicking off his shoes, and faceplanting the soft pillow with a long-winded sigh.

"Comfortable?" Gabriel asked amusedly, eyeing the boy as he made his way to the third bed from the left and sat down.

Ray's response was a raised thumb as he rolled over on to his back and folded his arms behind his head.

"Hey, i-if there are no objections, I'm going to take a shower." Kyzal's voice was still slurred after drinking too much Acolyte, but continuous pulses of his golden Aura could be seen as it burned whatever alcohol that remained.

"Go for it." Gabriel replied nonchalantly as he removed his boots and hat, resting the latter on one of the bed posts.

Scarlet stood in the middle of the room, torn between which choice of beds she could take. The options laid in front of her was the one laying untouched in the far-right corner, and the one between Gabriel and Ray.

Though the look on her face meant that her decision had already been made. She slowly paced towards the second bed from the left and sat down on it, bouncing up and down slightly to get a feel for the mattress.

Satisfied, she followed Gabriel's lead in removing her combat boots and laying them neatly by the foot of the bed, out of the way.

Scarlet had a level of sensibility to her that was rather fitting, given her recent promotion to team leader, though it was also evident that she lacked the experience her three male teammates did.

It wasn't hard to tell that Kyzal, Gabriel, and Ray all had their fair share of familiarity with this hostile world.

Luggage had already been delivered to their designated dorm room, with three suitcases and an armoured crate sat by the desk by the bathroom.

It was obvious which one was Ray's, the matte black crate appeared as though it belonged to military personnel.

Inside was a small handful of clothes, spare beanies in particular, and technological gear that Ray would need to use in order to attain that last piece of his father's weapon.

It was no secret that airport security would have tried to scan the contents of the crate, and failing that due to the IR jammer placed inside, they would have tried to pry it open.

Scratches on the lock on the front of the crate indicated forced entry, but this crate was built so survive a military strike. A crowbar, hammer and chisel, and just about any cutting tool had no hope.

Ray's privacy meant more to him than his own life, and like hell was he about to let some airport security goons take a look inside.

The gear he had wasn't even dangerous, mostly logic boards and other hardware, but the principle of other people taking a peek at the equipment was still the same.

They can all fuck off.

No doubt that the Beacon faculty would make another attempt at breaking it open, but as far as Ray was concerned, they were all welcome to try and fail. Again.

So, in lieu of anything better to do, Ray stayed on his new bed, resting his head on his arms and keeping his eyes closed.

He crossed his legs and sighed into the quiet room, relieved that the hard part of the day was finally over.

He could have honestly fallen asleep right there, but eventually his stomach and his need to shower would put a wrench in those plans.

Classes were nothing too spectacular to look forward to, if anything, they were a distraction to break up the long days ahead of him.

He had assumed Beacon, despite it being a place he thoroughly despised, would still be a cakewalk in comparison to what his father put him through.

Ray wasn't a bad fighter, and he had knowledge to back up his student disguise enough to deter any kind of unwarranted attention.

That said, the bottle of champagne probably put him and the rest of his team in line of sight of many other students, but the novelty of that rumour would wear down and eventually die within a couple of days.

As is the usual with teenagers, they dwell on events such as that for a couple of days before their short attention spans force them to focus on something more recent.

"Ray, are you not going to unpack or anything?" Scarlet's tender voice broke the relaxing silence and he opened his mouth to reply.

"I will in a second, I just need to relax for a couple of minutes."

"Oh, okay, then could you at least move your uh…" she paused, eyeing Gabriel trying unsuccessfully to shift the heavy crate sat on top of his suitcase, "box-thing?"

Ray's eyelids opened to reveal the amethyst gems hidden beneath as they visually acquired Gabriel's struggle.

With a sigh, the hacker sat up and placed his hand on the bedside table. A thin wire of violet light traced its way down the table and wormed through the soft carpet fibres before gripping the crate and lifting it effortlessly.

Ray turned his head to Scarlet and gave her a curious look. "Where do you want it?"

Scarlet's finger curled around her bottom lip as she thought for a moment.

"Umm, will it fit under your bed?" She asked, and in response, the hardlight shifted the crate off of Gabriel's case and towards the end of the bed before sliding it in.

"Better?" Ray asked as he laid back down in his previous position.

A nod from Scarlet was all the confirmation he needed as he resumed doing absolutely nothing. He decided he'd grab a shower after Kyzal was finished, but until then, he had a date with his pillow.

Scarlet, in her spare time, had dug inside her red and black suitcase to bring out her purse, to which she then began to count out the Lien cards she had on hand.

"Oh no…" She whispered, her eyebrows furrowing in concern as she recounted her total amount.

"No no _no!_ " She exclaimed, practically emptying her purse onto the bed and counting again.

"What's wrong Scarlet?" Gabriel asked, tilting his head to the side.

"I-I thought I had more money than this!"

She held up the pile of plastic cards, brandishing them in his face before he gently swatted them aside.

"What do you need the money for, again?"

"The part, Gabriel! I won't be able to afford the part I wanted!" Tears had begun to form around the corners of her eyes as the reality of the situation had begun to settle.

Gabriel nodded as he looked down at the cards in her hands.

"How much do you have?" He asked.

"Seven-hundred, but I need at least a _thousand_ to get the part I need… W-what am I going to do?"

The tears that had formed around her eyes had begun their descent down her face. Gabriel, in the heat of the moment, had begun to dive into his own suitcase, looking for any spare change he may have.

"I'm sorry, kid, I got nothing," Gabriel relented, "maybe you could ask for additional funding, perhaps?"

"I-I doubt they'll help me out… it's just a new firing pin…" Scarlet's eyes fell to her feet as she brought her knees up to her chest.

"You don't know that, you're the leader of our team now, surely they must hold you in a higher pedestal than us? That's all the more reason to give you the part you need, if not the money to afford it."

"M-maybe… but I- "

Shuffling from the corner of the room indicated movement and as Scarlet was about to turn to face the source, three plastic cards hit her in the face and fell to her lap.

"Will this shut you up? I'm trying to nap here."

Startled, Scarlet looked down into her lap and picked up the _three-thousand_ Lien Ray had just given her on a whim.

She gave the boy a confused look as he closed his messenger bag and laid back down.

"Consider it as a gift, _or_ a bribe, whichever you'd prefer." The boy mumbled as he closed his eyes once more.

Scarlet wiped the tears from her eyes and switched her focus between the boy resting on his bed and the large amount of money he'd just given her.

"Y-you didn't have to do that…" she mumbled softly, biting her bottom lip anxiously, "this… is _way_ too much money…"

"Between losing money and losing sleep, I'll choose the money any day. Just don't spend it all in one place." Came his immediate reply.

His eyes remained closed as he lay there in his comfortable position, almost completely uncaring toward the fact that he'd basically just bought his partner a brand-new firing mechanism rather than just a meagre firing pin. Strands of golden hair brushing past his temples as he rolled over.

"Let me know when Kyzal is done, I'm not going to class tomorrow smelling like the rear-end of a Creep after curry night."

Gabriel chortled in response to Ray's comment, "You got it."

* * *

Lilac canvas shoes stopped just short of a large apartment building.

The woman wearing these shoes had done her research, apparently, this was one of the nicer areas in Vale to live in, _far_ better than downtown Western Vale, anyway.

Not like she didn't have the experience there though.

Crime rate around this area was significantly reduced, plus the seaside view from the balconies she heard of was rather lovely. She may have been a master thief, but Lylac Chroma wasn't breaking in to this apartment block tonight.

No. She was shopping instead.

Truth be told, it had been a while since she'd really treated herself, add that to the fact that her and Ray needed a safehouse in Vale too, and she was more than willing to go all out.

Maybe she'd get reacquainted with some old friends too…

Out of all the places her and her younger cousin had travelled to, the number of times the pair had made a visit to Vale could have been counted on just one hand. Ray despised the kingdom relentlessly, given how his childhood here was sub-par at best, and Lylac had very few reasons to visit anyway.

See, Ly knew Ray better than anyone else; better than his father and most definitely better than his mother. Lylac was the only one that could read that boy like a book.

He didn't hate Vale for fun. He hated it because it brought back a whole entourage of bad memories.

The death of his father was the prime reason behind his prejudice. 6 years have passed since then and yet he _still_ wouldn't let it go.

And with the seventh anniversary of Orion's passing just around the corner, she held her reservations that he'd most likely break down.

This broke Lylac's heart…

Inside that tough, stubborn exterior lies the little boy she grew up with and he's hurting.

With the machine inside his head concealing that side of him on a permanent basis, she had no way of working her way inside and consoling that poor child.

Ray never allowed himself to grieve for his father, to finally come to terms with reality and let it go. He's so stubborn, he absolutely refuses to give in to the truth and let his father rest in peace.

But with a mother like that, who can blame him?

He would rather burn everything to the ground with weapons unlike the world has ever seen than accept that woman for the parent she should have been.

Truth be told, Lylac was terrified of what her cousin could do to this planet if he lost his mind.

Which is all the more reason to pull him out of the darkness and put him somewhere he can be watched.

Lylac had done her part, she'd essentially been a mother to him since the age of 14 and she'd like to think she'd done a pretty good job of it too, considering how he had saved her life more times than she could count.

But she was also young, also inexperienced with the real world. And despite how much she loved Ray to pieces, she had to find her own path as well.

Lylac shook the cobwebs free from her mind, her blonde hair swaying as she did so. The young woman sighed, "I'll break those defences of yours someday, Ray. And when I do, I'm not going to be sorry."

Having Ray in Beacon allowed Ly to make some preparations. In truth, she never honestly cared for the sword her uncle left behind. It was nothing now but just another artefact. An artefact from a time long since passed.

His father's weapon, Avramosis, was just a distraction to get him inside Beacon so that she had more time to plan ahead.

6 years of hiding away is far too long to keep away from society and out of the loop.

First thing Ly had to do was get in touch with the information network here.

With what Lylac had planned to attract them, they were bound to notice her return. She still had a few contacts dotted around the kingdom, but she needed to make her way _all_ the way to the top of that chain of command. The scheme she had in mind was most definitely going to incentivise an investigation on their part.

Her reputation would do the hard work for her, but it was down to her skills to complete her plan.

Next, she had to use the network to get her hands on some money. Legitimate money.

Ray's numerous bank accounts are nice, but a nigh limitless supply of Lien gives it less value. Lylac preferred to work for her earnings, not mooch off of her cousin.

With the network's help, she would be able to trade information for the whereabouts of valuable items to steal, and once she had completed these jobs, she'd sell the items for real, hard-earned cash.

And finally, once she had settled and rooted herself in Vale, she'd get that cousin of hers fixed for good.

Gods only know how she was going to accomplish that, but it had to be done.

She had to reacquaint that boy with his humanity again, for both of their sakes.

Sighing, she approached the front doors of the apartment block and gently opened them, walking casually over to the attendant by the desk.

"Excuse me, I hear you have an apartment for sale?" Lylac asked with a warm smile.

The girl sat behind the desk turned her focus from the terminal beside her to Ly, her chocolate brown eyes locking with the thief's pink orbs.

Ly noticed that the attendant seemed to perk up slightly with this new visitor, clearly, she'd had a long night.

"Oh, umm, yes we do. I'm sorry… I've been working for 9 hours already…" The girl replied earnestly, pulling her chocolate-coloured her to one side.

Lylac's soft lips curled up into a wider smile, her soft sapphire eyes growing softer, "That's quite alright, I know your pain."

"Oh, uh, so… you're enquiring about one of our apartments? We have a couple on the market at the moment, which would you prefer?"

Lylac's eyes watched as the woman plucked out a brochure and offered it to her, to which the thief immediately crumpled it up and threw it into the trash can on the floor.

With a sly smirk, Ly took a deep breath before opening her mouth to reply, "What's the most expensive one you have?"

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Aura works wonders for those that are intoxicated, the conscious ability to burn alcohol away? I know for a fact that I'd kill for something like that.**

 **Anyway, Ray's tired and need his sleep, so I figured we could turn our eyes to Lylac for a change, her scheme is no doubt going to bat a few eyelids.**

 **Especially since the products she'll be stealing are no doubt something very rarely taken.**

 **It also seems like Ly intends to stay in Vale for a little while too, it's most certainly been a while, so not only are there new things to do, but also very valuable items to claim for herself.**

 **It helps that her reluctant cousin is also in Beacon and won't leave until his job is complete.**

 **Either way, Follow and Favourite if you enjoy this story, there is certainly more to come.**

 **Reviews are also highly encouraged since I love reading your thoughts and opinions.**

 **Have a good one.**

 **\- Hydra**


	13. Chapter 13

**{The Tempest}**

Kyzal's shower lasted a lot longer for someone who doesn't have a lot to wash, though who was I to talk?

I fucking hate water, but whenever I'm inclined into cleaning myself, I tend to take my sweet time.

I found showers to be a good method of clearing my mind. Thing is, moving around from place to place tends to postpone them.

Duty calls and all that.

I mean, 30 seconds under a cold stream of water is hardly what I'd call a hygienic experience, it only just rids you of the grime and sweat that sticks to you after several _days_ of hard work.

Either way, Kyzal shouldn't have taken this fucking long to clean himself.

When he finally did leave the shower, it was no surprise to me that his drunk ass hardly cleansed himself in the slightest.

If I had to guess, he probably couldn't find the damn soap.

What was most interesting though, even for me, was what happened when the boy left the bathroom wearing nothing but a pair of pyjama bottoms and underwear.

" _What?!_ "

Scarlet's screech of disbelief was probably heard by the other teams all winding down in their dorm rooms.

Personally, I could've done without it, but that girl was as predictable as a double pendulum.

But this begs the question, what was it that took her by surprise so much?

The answer was simple.

I watched as Kyzal's head snapped to Scarlet in alarm as soon as Scarlet's voice tore down any quiet atmosphere in our room.

"W-what's wrong?" the boy questioned hesitantly, I watched as his eyes slightly widened at Scarlet's ever-growing manic grin and pointing finger.

I had to give him a little credit, his Aura did a better job of cleansing the alcohol than I had previously expected.

"You-You have wings?!" she half-asked, half-stated. Honestly, it was as if she wasn't quite sure _how_ to react to a pair of wings.

I mean, sure, wings were uncommon for a Faunus, but was it _really_ so surprising to see them?

I've seen a lot of shit in the past six years, and Faunus types covered a good 30% of that, at least. There are people with claws, animalistic eyes, even _scorpion_ _tails_ for crying out loud.

But none of which could've been considered extraordinary. Statistically, they're all very likely variants.

It's the mutations that catch you off guard.

Faunus with more than one inherited trait, like cat ears _and_ a cat tail, or even fox ears _and_ fox tails.

Now I pluralised the word 'tail' for a very good reason there. Because contrary to popular belief, multi-tailed fox faunus _do_ exist. In fact, I've seen them before, a whole family, even.

They're known as Kitsune and are supposed to be rare, _and_ very powerful, picking a fight with one is not something I would encourage.

The rarity however…

It seems that there's quite a few of them to be considered rare. Someone should downgrade that status to 'Uncommon' instead.

Not really something of major significance though, considering my 'partner' was still hyped up over a pair of fucking wings.

Seriously, _wings?_ You can hardly call them weird. Intriguing maybe, but not fucking weird.

But, you know, lo and behold, a pair of large, sleek, midnight black wings, decorated with flecks of white and brown were furled just behind his body.

Big fucking whoop.

"Is there a _problem_ with that, Scarlet?" Kyzal questioned suspiciously, narrowing his eyes. I felt as though he probably shared my views on her misplaced shock.

Didn't feel anywhere near as bad as my ears when Scarlet opened her mouth again and practically squealed.. _._

* * *

"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! THEY'RE BEAUTIFUL!"

Scarlet's voice was continuously growing louder and higher pitched as her excitement bottled up.

" _Jeez_ Scarlet, let the whole neighbourhood know, why don't you?" Gabriel commented as he reorganised his deck of Reapers.

Ray, who had pretended to pass out almost as soon as he rolled over, had sat up with a scowl on his face as he rubbed his eyes.

Scarlet disregarded all of this, her blood-red irises still wholly focused on the wings Kyzal tightly wrapped around his torso as he pulled his pyjama shirt over his head.

Fortunately, the shirt had slits in the back, designed to allow his wings to glide in and out for comfort, convenience, and security.

Once more his wings were on full display as he climbed on to his bed and leaned against the headrest, using his feathered appendages as a cushion.

Scarlet's hands had begun to twitch…

"Oh whoopty-fucking-doo, Kyzal has wings," Ray grumbled as he made his way to the bathroom, pulling off his beanie and tossing it on the desk by the door, "anyone else want to state the obvious?"

He paused by the door, glancing around the room as he waited for a reply. When no one answered, he nodded.

"I thought not," he commented lowly and entered the bathroom, locking the door behind him.

Kyzal watched as he entered the bathroom and his eyebrows furrowed for a moment before his gaze fell upon Scarlet giving him an expectant stare.

"Can I help you, Scarlet?" he questioned, his glowing, inquisitive eyes staring at her as she basically trembled with longing intent.

"Can… can I touch them?" She asked slowly, kicking the soft carpeted floor with her black ankle socks. Excitement burned in her eyes, those rubies never leaving the glossy feathers behind Kyzal's torso.

Kyzal shifted nervously, unsure of how he felt about the prospect of someone touching his wings and staring with an ardent curiosity.

He never let _anyone_ touch his wings. It was far too private. Far too intimate.

To let a complete stranger stroke them or run their fingers through his feathers, regardless of their intent, was too much for Kyzal's dignity to allow.

Even amongst other faunus, it was still taboo to touch each other's animalistic extremities, let alone allowing a human to do the same.

Kyzal shook his head slowly, "I'm sorry, but no, I don't like people touching them."

He wasn't racist, not in the slightest. It was true that all faunus have some minor disposition towards resenting humans for their prejudices, but even so, that didn't mean Kyzal outright liked or disliked them.

Not these three especially.

The marksman had actually expected more questions from his teammates regarding his wings, but to receive little to no reaction from Gabriel and Ray, and only a simple request from Scarlet was a nice change to the negativity he had received from others in the past.

He actually felt a little bad about turning the girl down… it didn't help when Scarlet's frame deflated a little, and when she seemed to nod in understanding.

Touching a Faunus' animalistic appendages were deeply personal gestures, something to not be taken lightly and Scarlet recognised and accepted this without question.

"It's okay," she chirped, "if you don't want me to, then there's not much I can do about it."

With a smile, Kyzal nodded in gratitude.

At least she seemed a little compassionate about the matter, most others pried even further, pressuring him into saying yes.

He wouldn't admit it, not yet at least, but her considerate nature was something that could be tolerated.

A buzzing sound on the wooden bedside table beside Scarlet's bed brought her attention to a violet scroll. Its golden button was flashing, indicating that someone was trying to start a call.

"You gonna get that?" Gabriel asked, gesturing toward the table.

Scarlet looked between him and the scroll, biting her lip anxiously, "B-but it's Ray's…"

"So? Just answer it, Red. Tell whoever it is that he's in the shower." Gabriel countered.

After a few moments, Scarlet sighed and picked up the scroll, her thumb grazed over its golden button and the device opened up to reveal the face of a young woman with soft blue eyes and lilac-tipped blonde hair.

"Oh, hello!" she greeted in surprise, a smile gracing her lips, "Who might you be? You certainly don't _look_ like my cousin..."

"Cousin…?" Scarlet asked slowly.

"Yeah, my cousin, Ray," the woman replied, "is he there right now? I need to ask him something."

Scarlet's feet shuffled nervously, she wasn't usually good at talking to new people, especially when she didn't have the chance to steel herself beforehand.

"Oh… um, he's in the shower right now. D-do you want me to leave him a message for you?" The girl fumbled over her words and this seemed to somewhat amuse the woman on the opposite end of the call.

"Oh, _that_ won't be necessary, it gives me the chance to meet his team until he gets back," her response was laced with some kind of excitement, this did Scarlet's confidence no favours.

"So, is your name as pretty as your face, sweetheart?"

Scarlet's face quickly developed a blush and this only further incited the young woman to keep pressing.

"Aww, aren't you adorable?" she cooed, "no need to feel embarrassed though, I was just asking your name, honey. _Here_ , I'll make it easier on you, I'm Lylac, but most people just call me Ly. Now, what's yours?"

Scarlet looked nervously towards her teammates, each giving her a 'go on' gesture before her gaze settled back on the scroll in her hand.

"S-scarlet. Scarlet Rubine."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Scarlet. Sadly, I won't be meeting you in person tonight, but in the future, maybe? It doesn't matter now though." The woman on the other end of the call smiled sweetly before quickly turning to something in the background as she walked.

" _Damn_ …" she cursed, "I'm sorry Scarlet, but it looks like we're going to have to continue this at another time, sweetie. Do me a favour though, tell Ray to call me back whenever he's free. For now, I'll catch you later kiddo."

With that, the call abruptly ended and the scroll in Scarlet's hand returned to the home screen before collapsing.

"She sounds interesting…" Gabriel commented idly as he sat on his bed facing his leader.

Scarlet slowly placed Ray's scroll on their shared bedside table and returned to her own bed, sitting on the side before removing her armoured tunic. Underneath, she had white wrappings around her torso, and the girl reached down to open up her suitcase and pull out a pair of black short-shorts and a red t-shirt.

"Uh… Scarlet? Wouldn't it be best to remove those bindings someplace more _private?"_ Kyzal questioned as the girl had slowly begun to unwind them.

Scarlet paused, turned to face her teammates behind her trying to avert their eyes and thought for a moment before her face instantly glowed red.

"O-oh y-yeah, you're r-right…" She stuttered hurriedly before quickly rushing to her feet and heading towards the bathroom.

"Ray's in there!" Kyzal promptly cautioned her as her hand found the doorknob, "Try the kitchenette instead."

She nodded, her face growing evermore redder as she rushed to the open area on the opposite end of the room, pyjamas in hand as she disappeared outside the line of sight.

"Is she gone?" Gabriel slowly asked as he kept his eyes hidden behind his hand. His morals didn't allow him to witness a lady without clothes unless it was for _special_ purposes.

"Y-yeah, we're good." Kyzal replied with a breath of relief.

As if by coincidence, Ray finally exited the bathroom with a towel tightly wrapped around his waist and another hanging around his shoulders.

Kyzal and Gabriel could hardly ignore the series of scars running the across his entire chiselled body. Not like scars were uncommon for huntsmen, but the fact that the vast majority that littered Ray's body were symmetrically positioned and dead straight.

And if that wasn't enough to pique their curiosity, the metal plate on the back of his skull and the silver metal nodes running parallel to his spinal column most definitely raised several questions.

Questions Kyzal didn't hesitate to ask.

"Ray…? What are those?" He inquired as the boy gathered fresh clothes. A white shirt and blue, tight-fitting jeans.

He turned to face his Faunus teammate with a raised eyebrow, "What are _what?"_ he replied, a hint of hostility in his voice.

"The uh… the metal sticking out of your head and back?" Gabriel answered in reply, clearly just as curious as his partner was.

A frown made its way onto Ray's eyebrows as he sat down on his bed. Water droplets crawling down the sides of his face and landing on the towel.

"Nothing you need to worry about."

"Dude… you have metal… _things_ poking out of your back, how could we _not_ worry about it?" Kyzal countered, his golden irises reflecting a burning curiosity mixed with a worried concern.

Ray turned his gaze away from him and placed his white t-shirt over his head. After doing so, his violet orbs locked with Kyzal's to make his next point absolutely clear.

"Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answer to."

"Yeah but, that isn't natural man…" Gabriel spoke up in response, "have they _always_ been there?"

Ray was clearly keeping secrets, but then again, it wasn't much different from Kyzal hiding his wings.

"Don't ask questions." Ray slowly replied, locking eyes with the cardslinger, his voice was more forceful than it was before.

Definitely hiding something.

Gabriel held his hands up in defence, "Look, okay man, whatever floats your boat…"

"Clearly your boat floats on curiosity…" Ray murmured as he slipped on underwear under the towel around his waist.

His blue jeans were next as he removed the towel and pulled them over his legs, tugging the zip all the way to the top and securing the button. White socks then found their way on his bare feet and his clothing was finally complete.

He would be sleeping in those clothes.

Sleep.

It was quite funny actually, Ray never considered sleep as _sleep_ , more like a convenient four hours of recharging, if anything.

His metabolism was ridiculous, his food was digested at an incredible rate, with an almost perfect efficiency rate, with almost 80% of the potential energy in the food itself being converted into usable energy for Ray's day to day use.

It's due to this absurd amount of energy that Ray requires such an underwhelming amount of sleep, because he _already has_ the energy required, he just needs to allocate it.

Tonight would be no different. He'll go to sleep, rejuvenate his cells, then wake up early morning with a full night's rest.

Considering his teammates didn't possess this unorthodox sleeping schedule, he would also get the peace and quiet he so desperately wished for.

Albeit at the earliest hours of the morning, but silence is silence, right?

As Ray laid there on his bed, full clothing, and playing around on his scroll idly, he began to board yet another train of thought.

His circumstances, aside from the obvious setbacks of being in Beacon and on the radar of Ozpin, weren't honestly all that bad.

Those that he was teamed up with were by no means the worst possible kind of kids he had to live with.

The temperament was calm with both Gabriel and Kyzal mostly keeping to themselves and not bothering him. Scarlet was a little more demanding for attention, but even then, she was manageable.

Not much different from Lylac really, a little younger and far less experienced maybe, but the fact remained; Scarlet was pretty much harmless, with the only exception being her incredibly destructive Semblance.

Ray vowed to find a way to keep that in check once he had enough data on it. Once he had acquired enough, he'd invent a way to channel this energy so she could use it without killing someone, or at the very least, somewhere to discharge it that wouldn't result in a hundred souls lost.

That was all in due time however.

"Hey Ray," Gabriel's voice shattered the train of thought Ray had boarded, "your cousin called earlier, when you were in the shower."

The hacker's eyes narrowed, "You answered my scroll without my consent."

Gabriel rolled his eyes, " _Relax,_ it was Scarlet that answered, your cousin said something along the lines of making sure you call her back when you get the chance."

Ray's lips parted slightly to release a heavy sigh, he swiped his scroll from the table beside him and opened it up.

"Suppose I better respond then…"

* * *

"God _fucking_ dammit…" Ly cursed furiously as she ran through the back alleys of downtown western Vale.

Her sneakers pounded against the floor in rapid succession.

This was supposed to be an easy job. A few crates of fruit, _fruit_.

How the hell she managed to screw this grocery shopping up, she had no idea, and _yet_ …

Police were onto her like flies to faeces. This is _Lylac Chroma_ , the girl who succeeded in stealing priceless family heirlooms from right under the noses of some of the wealthiest and well-defended families across the four kingdoms.

How in the world did she manage to screw up 7 crates of apples?

The answer wasn't important, getting out of this sticky situation was.

See, the issue she was facing had nothing to do with stealing the apples, not in the slightest. The issue was how the hell the police managed to catch on to her so quickly.

No doubt the stores she raided didn't fail to notice one tonne crates of apples mysteriously disappearing, and ultimately called the authorities, but the fact that the police were so _quick_ to react had her somewhat concerned.

Vale's Police Department were known for being notoriously sloppy, hell, they were literally comparable to kids playing make-believe. Never in any of Lylac's previous experiences has she ever been remotely close to being caught onto by those idiots.

Which meant either _someone_ tipped them off, or they've dramatically upped their game.

Lylac doubled down another alley, vaulting over empty crates and litter before coming to a chain link fence, using the muscles in her legs, she leaped up and over the fence, landing with a roll as the blaring sirens of multiple police cars zoomed past her.

"They can't have gotten this good…" she muttered to herself as she slowed her pace to a walk to catch her breath, "either that, or I've gotten careless…"

In truth, she _wasn't_ exactly discrete with stealing the fruit. Walking into the storage warehouse and waving her guns around is the furthest thing from inconspicuous.

Luckily, she had managed to get the fruit and leave before the police arrived, but they were hot on her tail almost immediately after.

Vibrating in her pocket brought her attention to her ringing scroll.

It seemed her cousin had received the message she gave that cute little red thing that answered earlier.

She accepted the call and brought the device to her right ear.

"Hey honey! How's the kids?" She greeted, a smirk pulling at her lips as she chose to sit down on a grimy doorstep beside her.

The alleyway was more than concealed enough for her to hide in to let the heat simmer down, so she was able to make the call without any untimely interruptions.

"You wanted my attention?" A monotonous voice replied.

"I do indeed, I have a favour to ask you."

"If you want another list of valuables to- "

"No no! Nothing like that. I need money, quite a bit too." Ly interrupted, brushing some hair out of her eyes as she crossed her legs.

There was a deafening silence before Ray gave his response, "You better not be trying to bribe someone out of a rare gem again."

A slight giggle echoed throughout the alleyway, "You know I don't bribe for gems, Ray. I didn't get the title of Master Thief for nothing."

"That self-proclaimed title is debatable, but whatever. How much do you need?"

Ly took a deep breath, "Oh… about forty-seven-point-five mil."

The speaker on Ly's scroll emitted what seemed to be a stifled choking sound before she heard her cousin inhale deeply.

"And _what exactly_ do you need it for? That's a lot of money, Lylac."

"I want a fancy place to have all the sex I need, with as many people as I wish, whenever I see fit." Ly spoke with absolute confidence and without hesitation.

Another period of silence occurred before Ray responded, "Of course…"

Ly suddenly gasped, "Oh, and I also need a place to store all the shiny things I'm going to steal while I'm here, showcase them in a place where they'll be most comfortable."

"… you already have a location in mind, don't you?"

" _Maybe…_ "

Ray sighed, "Very well, I'll send you the money digitally."

Ray couldn't see it, but a devilish, shit-eating grin soon flashed on Ly's face. Her soft, pink lips curling upwards in both victory and genuine delight.

"Thanks sweetie! We'll talk later, maybe over the weekend or something. Love you!"

"Love you too…" Ray mumbled, hanging up shortly afterwards.

Ly sighed, staring blankly at her scroll for a few moments as her smile dwindled into a slight frown.

"Your words ring hollow, Ray…" She muttered to herself dejectedly, opalescent sapphire eyes staring wistfully at her cousin's image, "you haven't felt real love since you were six..."

Lylac collapsed her scroll and slipped inside her right pocket. She knew the money was already in her account, she didn't even have to check.

With a drawn-out exhalation, she stood and brushed the back of her distressed, bleached jeans down. The police had almost certainly slowed in their search by now, their sirens' ear-splitting cries had long since died down, blending into Vale's white noise in the cloudy night.

Ly looked up and glanced at the clouds lingering above the kingdom, it would rain soon, cleansing the air and washing away the dirt and grime accumulated over the week.

The thickness in the air would also lead to the manifestation of a storm. Ray hated those. Though Ly could only subconsciously wish him luck as she made her way to Vale's grand hotel, she had an apartment to purchase, and after making her first heist of the week, it was about damn time she established a safehouse.

* * *

Raindrops rapped lightly against the lone window in RGDS' dorm room. All members sat in their beds comfortably, winding down after the long day.

All save Ray, at least.

The boy detested water in any form, even refusing to drink it on its own. The fact that it fell from the sky, usually after a nice sunny day, did it no favours.

The aquaphobic teen sat across the room, at the furthest point away from the window, surrounded by a softly glowing dome of hardlight.

"Ray, you know it can't get you right?" Kyzal asked with a sigh. Quite frankly, how someone with such a hard personality and cold exterior could be vulnerable to one of life's most crucial ingredients was perplexing, though, everyone had their own kryptonite.

Ray gave the winged faunus no response, the dome was soundproofed to some degree, and his avian faunus teammate's mumbling was hard to hear by default. Ray opted to sit on the carpeted floor in silence, staring intently at the window.

A flash of light startled him, followed shortly by a great crack.

Ray's shoulders sank even further as his eyes widened and his shield thickened.

"You're scared of thunder too, huh?" Scarlet sighed, slowly getting up and cautiously approaching the violet cocoon, knocking on its glass-like surface, "Can I… come in…?"

Ray momentarily glanced at her, his irises giving her a once over as they scanned her tight red t-shirt and black short-shorts. Her necklace lightly glistened in the light that reflected off of it as she kneeled beside his shield and rested her hand upon its surface.

Scarlet felt the slight warmth of Ray's energy against her palm, seeing and feeling the shield pulsate as Ray released a small burst of energy to renew it.

"Please?" She asked softly, her eyes locking with his. She could see the genuine veil of fear hidden in those twin amethysts, no doubt backed by bad past experiences.

Ray shuffled nervously before the wall of his shield parted to give Scarlet access to its interior.

"You have really good semblance control, I envy you." The girl whispered as she found a seat beside her partner, leaning against the door and hugging her knees, mirroring his own position.

Ray glanced down to the gauntlets around his forearms, "They do most of the work…" He muttered as the shield closed once again.

"Better than nothing though." Scarlet pointed out, making herself comfortable.

The two sat there, barely grazing shoulders as they both watched the window. With every flash of lightning, Scarlet could feel Ray's body briefly lock up before slowly releasing.

"I wish I had as much control over my semblance as you do, I can barely contain it at times…" Scarlet commented, breaking the silence in the dome they sat in.

In order to take his mind off of the storm, she had to distract him with conversation. This wasn't her first rodeo with innate fears, so trying to quell Ray's was hardly a new experience.

Ray blinked before he turned to her for a moment, "Can't you channel it?"

Scarlet's pink lips curled into a wistful smile as she shook her head, "No."

This information kickstarted the engineer in Ray. His mind beginning to shift into a higher gear as ideas for new potential designs and tests formed.

"I might be able to help you with that."

Scarlet's focus suddenly shifted to him, "Many have tried, none have succeeded. I doubt you'll do much, but you're welcome to make an effort."

"Nothing ventured… nothing gained…"

Another flash of lightning illuminated their dorm for a split second, but this one didn't seem to affect Ray, his mind too focused on finding a solution to Scarlet's semblance problem to worry about the discharge of 100 million volts that had just struck the academy's grounds. Even the immense thunderous clap that hit them had no effect.

Ray hypothesised that the storm would last the entire night, which left him with no room for sleep as his hypervigilance would undoubtedly prevent that.

The irony is, the hacker was more concerned about the water pouring from the sky, rather than the thunder and lightning that accompanied it. His aquaphobic disposition gave him a strong inclination to worry more about the rain itself.

Of course, the lightning still unsettled him, with the delicate electronics in his brain, one strike is all that would be needed to melt them until the entire supercomputer was nothing but metallic junk. Though his teammates need not know that.

Either way, Ray wasn't going to leave his shield until it was over, no way in hell he was going to put himself in danger like that.

Not unless-

A flash of green light in the corner of his eye caught his attention, his focus snapping to the window once more.

Environmental sensor arrays in his gauntlets had begun to pick up on an unnaturally powerful surge of lightning bolts accumulating around something on one of the roofs.

Out of fear, Ray involuntarily double the thickness of his shield, muting all sounds outside into nothing but a dull whisper in response to this phenomenon.

Something wasn't right, and the amount of negatively charged particles in the air made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up on end.

Before Ray could even build a modicum of courage to investigate what exactly was going on, the lightning had begun to grow evermore powerful, as if something were amplifying it.

Now why anyone or anything would want to do that was beyond Ray's comprehension, but regardless, it was becoming more and more aggressive as the energy struck the ground repeatedly, slamming into the campus like a war drum, and at its climax, a brilliant lime green light shot out and shattered across the sky, scattering and dispersing the clouds instantly.

It was no doubt a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, that Ray knew, but never in his life had he experienced a storm as heavy as this, only for it to disappear in a lightshow brighter than any firework display he had ever seen.

A few silent moments passed as the clouds finally disappeared, revealing the crystal-clear night above the kingdom.

Stars had finally made their prominence in the night sky once again, showing the world who was really the champion of light.

Each cosmic entity twinkling as their light spent millions of years travelling through the cosmos to reach the naked eye of the average star gazer.

Power such as that that had been established of generations. Seen as deities, objects of worship in many cultures that had appeared and died through Remnant's history. Accompanying the shattered moon in the sky like lovers as their soft glow barely illuminated the world.

Ray's eyes gazed out into the starry night as all tension he held before became gradually released. His mind having lost its desire to lock up and prevent entry.

Ray's shield ceased to exist as it slowly melted away into a shower of violet sparks, each one slowly falling to the floor before fading.

Scarlet seemed to have also witnessed the spectacle that had just occurred too, if her expression was any proof.

It seemed Ray's living nightmare was all just a bad dream at this point.

It didn't even deserve to be recognised as a storm at this point, considering how short it was.

Like a candle in the wind, the maelstrom was finally gone.

As was Ray's fear.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **This is probably one of my longer chapters by far, around 4.9k words excluding this A/N.**

 **I'm trying to aim for bigger chapters to compensate for my irregular uploads.**

 **Sorry about that.** _ ***shrugs***_

 **Though considering I was on vacation last week, I was a little restricted in regards to when I could upload. So, this week I'm giving you a juicy chapter so I don't get scrutinised.**

 **Oh and by the way, for those that have forgotten or don't know, in order to understand what the hell is going on in this story, you need to read** **Rogue Huntsman** **by** **Xera Stark** **, and on top of that, for another great story about the same plot, go and read** **Knights of White and Black** **generously brought to you by** **andy2396.**

 **I hope you enjoy this story, please feel free to give it and myself a** _ **Favourite**_ _ **,**_ _ **Follow**_ _ **,**_ **and a** _ **Review.**_

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


	14. Chapter 14

**{Dawning}**

With the thunderstorm dismissed by unknown means, sleep came to RGDS easily. Their energy spent and in need of a well-deserved recharge. Classes would start in the morning, and the real schooling would begin. So, they would need all the rest they could get.

Ray woke up exactly four and a half hours after he decisively went to bed, fully rested, the need to stay beneath his covers was fulfilled.

It was boredom that convinced him to get up and have a shower, quickly slipping in and out just to ease the process of waking up. After that, the boy found his uniform, already custom tailored to fit him perfectly, inside the cupboard in the bedside table he shared with Scarlet.

As quietly as he could manage, he slipped into his uniform and made his bed before sitting down and waiting for the day to begin.

Given it was quarter to four in the morning, he suspected he would be waiting a while.

Pulling out his scroll to quell the boredom was a force of habit, but not necessarily a bad habit given his choice of livelihood.

Ray was still undeniably curious about multiple things that had occurred over the previous day. The Affinity user, the school's operating procedures, and the student that died during the initiation.

The former two couldn't be searched up so quickly, but the latter, that was a different story.

Doing his best to stay discrete, Ray managed to remotely hack into school records, showing him only academic information on students in the school, including himself.

A lot of information had yet to be processed, including all the most recent applicants. Those that made it into the school had yet to be separated from those who didn't.

So, to find the student, Ray had to scroll through the 200 others that applied to join, let alone those that were allowed into the initiation.

His eyes scanned the list of names and faces fervently, never once blinking to avoid missing the individual he was looking for. Ozpin was so lazy, he didn't even bother to list them in alphabetical order.

However, it wasn't long before Ray found the boy he was looking for.

Maroon Alister. Vacuan. Seventeen years of age.

 _Deceased._

A silent breath escaped through Ray's nose as he analysed Maroon's student application.

Exceptionally skilled in close quarters combat, acrobatics, and experienced martial artist. This kid was stacked with achievements.

A brilliant mind in the classroom and an even better one on the battlefield, it was almost inconceivable to think this boy had died to Grimm.

Ray cross-referenced the cited achievements on Maroon's résumé to the officials that issued them and found that all were legitimately earned, none of them forged or emphasised in the slightest.

In all honesty, Ray couldn't believe the hard evidence in front of him, his mind working up a storm of its own trying to work its way around the issue that presented itself before him.

If this boy was so well-equipped to handle the cakewalk of the initiation provided by Beacon Academy, how the fuck did he die?

It was statistically impossible, the records and scores preached that to no end.

There was something missing, and Ray had an idea of where to find it.

The Emerald Forest was littered with cameras, Ray still had the one he dismantled in his messenger bag. They tracked the students based on their individual scroll signals and stored all footage in Beacon's servers for reviewing the student's performance.

Unfortunately, Ray didn't have access to the servers on-hand.

Now, to get to the servers, that required a trip to the CCT, so Ray can manually patch himself into the network and the servers by proxy.

But to sift through potentially millions of other files in the span of a few short seconds?

Even for a mind that's half-machine, that's impossible. These files aren't merely stored on the server, they're more than likely encrypted too. Ray would have to bring in some very big guns to complete such a task, luckily for the hacker, he had a few tricks up his sleeve.

Sighing, the boy took his eyes off his scroll for a moment and blinked, immediately feeling the sting in his eyes from staring intensely at a bright screen.

He wiped his eyes with his hand before glancing over to the alarm clock Scarlet had set before she went to bed. The time was 4:21AM, far too early for anyone else to be awake. Well, anyone that didn't have any nefarious intentions, or the need to get up early.

Sometimes Ray cursed his metabolism, others he blessed it. Only requiring half the amount of sleep as the average person gave him so much more time in the day to be productive, or slack off.

It all depended on what he felt like doing, but the principle is all the same. However, it also left him bored a lot of the time. Even if he was drinking. It would mean that he would be drunk and still bored.

Which is never a healthy combination anyway.

The boy sighed, glancing at the time once more. 4:23AM. Only 2 hours and 37 minutes to go before Scarlet's alarm went off, at least he'd have _someone_ to make conversation with then.

He turned to the girl sleeping peacefully next of him, watching as her chest rose and fell in a blissful rhythm. Her hair was cascading in waves of glorious crimson beauty and her face was buried into her covers, revealing only her closed eyes and small, freckled nose.

At least she wasn't snoring. Neither were the others for that matter.

Ray noticed how one of her slender, pale legs was protruding out from underneath her quilt, exposing her smooth, toned thigh and calf to the cool, open air. The hem of her shorts had also risen above her hip too, shamelessly revealing her porcelain curve.

Upon closer inspection, Ray noticed how her exposed leg had gooseflesh running across its light surface, indicating her body's need for warmth.

Now, the _last_ thing Ray was about to do was climb into her bed and warm her himself, the boy was uncomfortable with physical contact in any form, however, his eyebrows furrowed slightly before he stood up and approached the girl.

He blinked once, giving her sleeping form a once over before gently pulling the cover over her leg. His violet eyes lightly glowing in the dimly lit room as they scanned over her comfortable slumber once more.

When her leg had been shielded from the chill, he returned to his seat on his bed, but his elbow met something on the bedside table in the process.

A cold, wet sensation quickly trickled over Ray's left arm and soaked through his freshly washed uniform.

" _Dammit…_ " he cursed under his breath, quickly working to rub away the glass of water he hadn't seen before.

It was a fruitless endeavour, one that would end up only creating more mess than necessary. Sighing, the boy grasped the glass and set it up right to avoid its inevitable journey to the carpeted floor. He set the glass down with care, as to avoid waking his teammates by accident.

They'd need all the sleep they could get for this piece of shit school.

Ray didn't take long to stand back up and grab one of the spare towels from the bathroom, returning to his bed to dry up most of the moisture before throwing the thing in the nearby hamper.

Running out of things to do, the boy turned to the kitchenette. He hadn't examined the thing since RGDS were assigned their dorm room, so he figured now would be as good a time as any to check it out.

Since it was an open floorplan, the boy only had to walk to the other side of the dorm before he reached the kitchenette. Debating on whether or not to turn the light on, Ray turned to his sleeping teammates and sighed, opting to not wake them up with intrusive bright light.

That was the sun's job anyway.

Ray found himself rather impressed, the kitchenette wasn't much different in size than the average kitchen, and had enough appliances to cook a full meal to good standards.

Thirsty, the boy explored the cupboards for a clean glass before he found exactly what he was looking for. He pulled out a pint-sized glass and approached the sink, filling the glass with tap water and downing the entire thing in a few short moments.

He courteously washed the glass clean once he was done with it before setting it down on the drying rack. He then sighed and leaned back against the dark granite worktop, slipping his hands inside his pockets.

"Seems there isn't a whole lot to do here, is there?" he whispered to himself, "I suppose I can plan out how I'm going to get that part but…"

He brought out one of his hands and ran it through his damp hair before wiping his face.

"Fuck it. What's the point? I'll just cross that bridge when I get there. I don't even know if the piece is here yet."

Ray sighed once more, letting his hand fall and slap against his thigh as he propped himself up and headed straight for his bed.

As he sat down, he picked up his scroll resting by the pillow and opened the device up, wondering if Lylac was available to speak.

' _Ly, are you awake/available?'_

Ray gave the girl a few minutes to respond, but unfortunately, it appeared as though she was _also_ asleep.

Or just ignoring him…

Wouldn't have been the first time after all. He was used to her wanting her own space by now.

Who could blame her though? She'd raised him since he was 11 years old. Hell, the girl had barely started puberty when they ran away together.

The discovery of her menstrual cycle was a nightmare that still haunted him from time to time.

Gone was the kind, funny, loving cousin he was used to, replaced by a merciless, ice cream-addicted bitch.

Ray shuddered over that thought. Ly with PMS could make a grown man cry.

That wasn't something he'd like to experience again any time soon.

Either way, it didn't look like she was going to respond to him at the moment, so he did the next best thing.

He put his violet canvas shoes on, tucking the laces in down the sides, placed his scroll inside his blazer pocket, and approached the door. A little exploring couldn't hurt anybody.

Unlocking the door as slowly and as quietly as possible, he slipped out into the hallway and closed it behind him. He used his scroll to activate the locking mechanism, since all students were given access codes to their own dorms, and silently tiptoed his way down the corridor, making his way outside.

Beacon surely had a lot to show for those willing to search it. A school as old as this surely had its secrets, some of which more hidden than others.

Ray was not searching for any secrets this early in the morning, he was aiming to quell his boredom.

The rainstorm that had hit the previous night soaked everything right down to its core.

While no fan of the naturally occurring substance, Ray couldn't deny that having it fall from the sky was far worse than treading on a puddle.

It also helped wash away the musky feeling in the air, and the stench of disappointment clogging the hacker's nose.

Desperation leaked from every student here like pheromones, sadly, given Ray's enhancements, he can practically smell those too.

Not like he enjoyed the pungent odour either, faunus in heat were quite possibly the most disgusting creatures on the planet.

Thank the gods someone produced medicine for that. Pills designed to counteract the hormones in a faunus' body were a godsend for someone like Ray, who could pretty much _taste_ their libido.

Too bad the rain couldn't wash _that_ smell away.

Ray shook his head to dismiss that repulsive train of thought away, focusing on his self-appointed task of finding his bearings in this massive academy.

His first destination was the cafeteria, getting a better look than he did when spending time with Scarlet before the initiation.

When he approached the doors, they were locked, however, those responsible for school's security had been stupid enough to install _digital locks_ on nearly every entry way, each with varying levels of encryption to them.

Ray had breached into far worse than this.

With a single swipe of his scroll, the boy's device made use of its near-field communication and advanced processing power to effortlessly punch its way through the door's security.

"A four-digit encryption? What is this? Practise?"

The boy shook his head as he pushed his way inside the silent, derelict canteen, amethyst eyes sweeping over the four rows of wooden benches students occupied every day to meet, greet, and eat with their friends and fellow classmates.

 _Disgusting_.

Ray hoped they had at least used a strong enough detergent to rid the tables of microorganisms before each meal. Else, he'd be spending every lunch hour cooking his own food back in his dorm.

Which was too time-consuming to be considered a viable option.

Though, the boy relented in the fact that he had nothing _but_ time while he was stuck here.

Ly would have his head for leaving without getting what he came for, and with Kyzal's stunt giving their team infamy on the first day, he was sure to be in Ozpin's sights by now.

It never really dawned on him beforehand, but as Ray walked straight down the middle of the cafeteria, the thought that Ozpin might already recognise the boy meant many, _many_ troublesome things were headed his way.

The man had been searching avidly for him for a little over half a decade, Ray wouldn't put it past him to keep his eyes on the prize, especially when said prize walks right through his metaphorical front gate.

A sneaking doubt wormed its way into Ray's psyche that Ozpin wasn't going to give the last piece away without Ray doing something in return.

If only Ray knew _exactly_ where it was. He'd take the fucker right now and never be seen again.

A sigh escaped through Ray's pursed lips as he stopped walking dead in the middle of the large hall.

Perfectly straight teeth ground in his mouth as the boy frustrated himself just thinking over every worst-case scenario.

He made one thing quite clear to himself though, if getting that final piece meant staying at Beacon for four whole years, then he'd just fuck off and leave it here.

 _No fucking way_ was he going to endure the four years of bloodcurdling torture that is Beacon Academy's Huntsmen training program.

He'd rather go for a swim in liquid metal.

And _this_ is exactly the reason why Ray wished he could sleep just like everyone else. To prevent him from getting wound up thinking over hopeless potential situations.

Envy struck him like a bitch as he wordlessly stormed out the way he came, _quietly_ slamming the doors behind him and locking them as he aimlessly wandered somewhere else.

He who angers you, conquers you, and Ozpin was on his merry way to practically branding the Chroma heir as Beacon property…

* * *

Scarlet's waking ritual involved a tiny, almost mute yawn, combined with stretching her little form with contortionist levels of flexibility. Not exactly something to be proud of, but the girl's muscles had to be warmed up somehow.

Her first destination in the land of the living was the toilet, because good heavens did she need to pee.

After Scarlet had performed her deed, her next objective was to polish the inside of her mouth. The girl approached the bathroom sink and stared unamused at the mirror mounted just a head height above her.

She was small, something that she was painfully made aware of every day, but to be mocked by a looking glass was just insulting.

Frowning, she picked up her toothbrush and delivered a pea-sized amount of paste before beginning to passively-aggressively scrub her mouth.

She ought to get a stool or something, maybe even wake up one of her teammates for them to lift her up so she could she the damage to her appearance caused by the villain known as sleep.

Her bed-head was not a friendly sight.

While not too picky over her appearance, RGDS had already made a bad name for itself thanks to her partner's alcohol problem and Kyzal's complete disregard for the most basic of manners.

She really ought to do something about those two. As the leader of this team, it was Scarlet's duty to shape them up into respectable individuals, even if it-

A dull snapping sound emanated from the inside of the girl's mouth, shaking her from her reverie in an instant.

Scarlet pulled out her toothbrush to find that the brush head itself was no longer attached to the handle.

Sighing internally, Scarlet opened her mouth and plucked out the brush head, spitting the residue inside her mouth out afterwards.

"Why _me?_ " she quietly bemoaned, sighing as she dropped the broken toothbrush into the trashcan by the door.

Her delicate hands quickly grasped a black and red toiletry bag sat on one of the shelves to her right, and plucked out a brand-new toothbrush, once more giving it a small amount of toothpaste and continuing where she left off, vigorously brushing her teeth to the point where they squeaked.

It didn't take her long to achieve that either, since the first brush she used did most of the work, the second only had to add the finishing touches. A rinse out with mouthwash then finalised her morning oral hygiene session and left her breath smelling minty fresh.

 _Well,_ she hoped so at least.

Bad breath was very unflattering.

As were the messy crimson locks obscuring the left-hand side of her vision. Diving once more into the bag on the sink, she brought out a hair brush, and luckily for her, a small vanity mirror.

She held both in her right hand as she opened the door with her left. Immediately making her way to the desk by the kitchenette.

Her mirror had a ring of lights around the frame that allowed her to see what she was doing without being too invasive to the two sleeping boys behind her.

Gently, she begun to run her fingers through her hair to separate it and soon followed through with a stroke of her hairbrush, repeating this cycle until her hair was no longer the unkempt mop it was previously.

She had washed it recently too, so it was already smooth to the touch when she stroked it.

Satisfied, she set her hairbrush down on the desk and turned her mirror light off before she made her way to the uniform neatly folded inside the bedside table she shared with Ra-

 _Hold on..._

Where _is_ Ray?

Looking around she couldn't see, nor hear him, which meant he was either A: More silent than he appeared and had the ability to turn invisible – something not as uncommon as most people believed, Semblances can be pretty crazy nowadays. Or, B: _Not here_.

He couldn't be in the kitchenette, because the girl in red was certain she'd see him, and he most definitely wasn't in the bathroom.

Scarlet bit her lip anxiously, at least she _hoped_ he wasn't in the bathroom... she didn't check behind the shower curtain and if he _was_ behind it and she _did_ check, then that would have been _very_ embarrassing...

Her cheeks burned a little at the thought of such a heinous situation...

Scarlet's head suddenly whirled around at the sound of a soft click coming from the door. When her eyes focused, she could just about make out a familiar Ray-shaped silhouette staring back at her with softly glowing violet eyes.

There was a still, tense silence in the air before the girl's lungs quickly drew in air to surely scorn him for leaving, but before she could even utter the first syllable, Ray quickly closed the distance between them in an instant, and clamped her mouth shut with his hand, soon followed by a sharp hushing sound.

"The last thing you wanna do right now, is yell." Ray's distinct, monotonous voice gently carried its way to Scarlet's ears before the girl slowly nodded.

Ray then pulled his hand away from the shorter girl's face and moved past her to sit on his bed.

"Why are you even awake, Scarlet? It's half 5 in the morning." the boy questioned, glowing irises still glued to her own.

Scarlet shuffled her feet a little before sitting down on her own bed, facing her partner, "I could ask you the same thing!" she whispered, though still trying her best not to escalate her soft voice.

"I don't need to sleep for as long as you do, it's a part of my Semblance," the boy lied straight through his teeth, but it was easier to conceal the truth than explain it.

The boy paused however, narrowing his gaze but still focused wholly on his leader, "but I doubt you have the same quirk, what woke you?"

The girl shifted in her seat and turned her gaze away for a fleeting moment just as she mumbled something just out of Ray's hearing.

Though, much to her surprise, and embarrassment, the boy still figured it out anyway.

"You needed to use the bathroom, didn't you?"

His muted, colourless voice barely pierced the silence, but Scarlet's eyes still widened in alarm as she vehemently attempted to deny it.

In response, Ray did what any other normal person would: deadpan.

"Scarlet… you _left_ the _light_ on."

Scarlet's eyes traced in the direction of Ray's pointing index to the light breaching through the crack under the bathroom door.

"You're as predictable as the twelfth hour, you know that, right?" Ray asked, watching his leader crumble like the wet cookie she was.

Sighing, the boy leaned back into his pillow before muttering another comment, "I don't see why you're so ashamed of a normal bodily function, but do as you see fit. You're already awake now, so you might as well put your uniform on," He paused, craning his neck to glance at the alarm clock on, "no point in you going back to sleep if you only have an hour and fifteen minutes to wake up."

Scarlet nodded as she bent down and pulled her uniform out from the cupboard. She held each neatly folded article in her arms as she slowly stood up and trekked all the way to the bathroom, entering quickly to avoid exposing the room to too much light than necessary.

A few short minutes passed before the girl emerged again, donning the flamboyant, yet admittedly stylish uniform that fit her like a glove.

Ray wouldn't be caught staring at her though, he was for more interested in staring at the ceiling before she cleared her throat.

"How do I look?" her soft voice barely glanced past Ray's ears, though in contrast with the deafening silence, it was as loud as the thunderstorm from earlier.

"Like an accurate representation of the perfect student," the boy replied in monotony, giving her a once over, "how… predictable."

Scarlet's eyebrow furrowed in a moment of concern before she blinked those feelings away.

"What do you mean by predictable...?"

"I mean, it's predictable because, from what I can tell, you're a fantastic fighter and excellent strategist. Having so many respectable qualities makes looking the part equally as important. I have a strong feeling you'll do well here - regardless of whether or not you intend to."

The crimson warrior's face contorted into an expression of confusion, she wasn't quite sure what to make of Ray's answer, in fact, she could positively admit that it only brought more questions than answers.

"Is…is that a compliment?" came her hesitant reply as she lightly pulled at the hem of her plaid skirt.

"Take it as you wish, I was only stating the truth."

Ray confused her. There wasn't many she knew that could speak their uncensored opinions without fear of scrutiny or judgement, yet this boy… this anomaly… he spoke as he saw fit, never once dreading the response of others.

He established himself in her mind as someone who cared very little for others' views on him.

And she wasn't sure if this was a good trait…

…Or a bad one.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **[Insert excuse for delayed upload here]**

 **Sorry for the wait, but I lead a busy life (mostly.) However, hopefully this chapter will remind those of you that read it that I'm in fact,** _ **not**_ **dead, just taking my time because fuck it XD**

 **Anyway, I'm still in the process of writing the next chapter, so god knows when that'll come out.**

 **In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, writing scenes that only contain Ray is a hell of a lot of fun. His sardonic outlook on pretty much everything is something I pride myself in.**

 **As for Scarlet, I thoroughly enjoy writing about her daily struggles with mundane things, she really** _ **is**_ **a mess.**

 **On that note, for those that have forgotten or don't know, in order to understand what the hell is going on in this story, you need to read** **Rogue Huntsman** **by** **Xera Stark** **, and on top of that, for another great story about the same plot, go and read** **Knights of White and Black** **generously brought to you by** **andy2396.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this story, please feel free to give it and myself a** _ **Favourite**_ _ **,**_ _ **Follow**_ _ **,**_ **and a** _ **Review.**_

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**

 **(P.S. If anyone would like to remind them that we need to play Dark Souls 3 again, that would be greatly appreciated.)**


	15. Chapter 15

**{Vermin}**

Scarlet's alarm had a negative response from her teammates, Ray, who was already awake, only sighed in response to the tiny hammer striking the bells, Gabriel groaned in despair before rolling and falling out of bed, and Kyzal shot up in alarm as if he'd been thrown inside a war zone.

"Damn Scarlet… it's only 7, did you have to get us up so early?" Gabriel bemoaned, picking himself back up.

"Apparently so…" Kyzal mumbled as he shifted his legs over to the side of the bed.

Both the marksman and the gambler took their time to wake up, Gabriel being the first to jump in the shower before his faunus partner could beat him to it.

Ray was growing ever more irritated though.

There was a moth that had been flying around their room ever since Scarlet had donned her uniform.

At first, Ray had ignored it, assuming the insect would fly out the window.

But he was mistaken.

Sorely mistaken.

The persistent little bugger didn't leave, and given its very limited intelligence, was consistently crashing into any light source it could find. More specifically, Ray's scroll.

Now that sunlight had begun to illuminate this side of Remnant, it became easier for Ray to keep track of the moth.

Particularly when it flew into his face for the 132nd time…

He was at his wit's end. No longer willing to pretend like it wasn't there.

With a growl, Ray reached over and placed his left hand on the floor, before a line of purple light zigzagged its way through the soft carpet fibres and hooked its way through his messenger bag's strap. He then recalled the wire, pulling his bag along with it until he could pull it onto his bed.

His hand dove inside, immediately in search of the two specific items he had in mind. The first thing he pulled out was a can of deodorant, and the second was a lighter.

A flip lighter, in fact, one that held significant sentimental value to Ray, given who its original owner was.

Orion had included this object into the list of items Ray would inherit, despite him being too young to smoke.

That said, this lighter had never once let him down when he needed to light a campfire for warmth.

The small metallic object had an insignia, the symbol that not a lot of people recognised. A single, golden, eight-pointed star, with the points that represented compass directions being longer than those adjacent to them. The star glistened defiantly in the centre of a dark, endless void. Or in this case, a black circle that contrasted heavily against the silver casing.

His father never once smoked a cigarette, not that Ray was aware of anyway, but he had kept this lighter on him at all times, in the front left pocket of his legendary long-coat.

Ray stared at the lighter for a few fleeting seconds, remembering all the times he had seen this treasured knick-knack. A moment of nostalgia tied to an endless sea of remorse passed through his mind, as they usually did when recalling the halcyon days, the days he so wished he could return to.

Blinking away the memories, he carefully flipped the lighter open and ignited the wick, testing that it still worked. As expected, given Ray's fondness for the lighter, it worked, having been well maintained by the hacker ever since he inherited it.

Casting his gaze across the room, he sought out the irritating moth that had pestered him for the past hour and a half. He spotted it almost immediately, sat on the wall next to the door that lead to the hallway, Ray carefully got up, brandishing his can of deodorant in his right hand as he crept toward the little shit.

Once the boy was within striking distance, he let out a quick burst of his deodorant, igniting the aerosol and combusting into a powerful, but improvised flamethrower.

The bastard didn't stand a chance.

With a triumphant smirk, Ray bent down and picked up the charred insect by what remained of its wings and dropped it into the trashcan.

"Man… that was so cruel…" Kyzal commented.

"If you ever decide to fly into my scroll, I'll burn your wings off too." Ray retorted, turning to face his teammate.

"I'd like to see you try…" the marksman growled in response, "wouldn't a bug zapper be more humane?"

"I can shock you if you'd much prefer, yes."

"No, I was talking about the moth, you idiot!"

"If you say so."

Scarlet couldn't help but giggle a little as the two, while she maybe should have said something, she found the minor dispute funny. At home, she never really had the time to express her sense of humour, given all the rigorous training she was forced into.

Beacon was much laxer, for the first time in years, she felt like she could really let go a little and have some fun during her studying and training, without being reprimanded by her parents for it.

Her father was quite possibly her best and worst critic ever since the accident…

Scarlet paused and shook her head, blinking away that train of thought quickly. She no longer had to stress over the opinion of her parents, now that she was a student of Beacon Academy, she may never have to see them again.

 _Wouldn't that be grand?_

Gabriel soon emerged from the bathroom all cleaned up and donning his brand-new uniform.

"You wanna know the difference between you three and me?" He asked, addressing his compatriots with unwavering confidence as he slowly fitted his cowboy hat atop his head and adjusted his tie.

"I make this look _good._ "

Where Scarlet may have let off a meek giggle earlier, she couldn't help but burst into laughter when she saw the smug grin on Gabriel's face.

Her teammates all stared at her as she clutched her stomach and struggled to remain balanced, hearing Scarlet's laughter also seemed to be contagious too, since it wasn't long before Gabriel began to chuckle alongside her, and Kyzal's lips curled upwards into a smile.

"Control yourself, Rubine, you're a causing a scene."

Ray's response wasn't like the others'.

It seemed like he had no sense of humour at all. Or a really suppressed one.

Or even a twisted one.

No one could say for certain at this point.

"Don't classes start soon?" Kyzal pointed out, interrupting the little giggle session.

Scarlet's face dropped like a sack of bricks instantly, before her eyes snapped to her alarm clock.

Only for her face to immediately flush with relief after realising that they still had an hour left until their first class began.

"No, wait! It's okay! Unless any of you guys feel like unpacking or decorating, we have a chance to eat breakfast." The girl chirped enthusiastically, throwing her arms in the air.

It was Ray who, surprisingly, was the first on board with this diligent leader's mission, slipping his sneakers on and tucking the laces in. He wasn't about to wear those stiff, cruddy school shoes anyway.

Gabriel and Kyzal quickly followed his lead, and placed their school shoes on, before approaching the door and waiting for their leader, who was tying her laces.

"C'mon Scarlet! I'm hungry!" Gabriel beckoned her, urging the girl to pick up the pace.

"I- ugh- know! Just… give me a minute!" She grunted as she struggled to slip her own shoes on. Sighing, she eventually gave up on attempting to tackle the laces and rushed to the door.

"Okay! Everyone got everything they need?"

"Yep."

"All good here."

"Mhm."

The three affirmatives were all she was about to get from the boys as they all seemed somewhat eager for breakfast.

"Okay! Let's go!"

* * *

Classes throughout most of the day consisted of mostly introductions with a couple keeping them brief and even giving a first actual lesson.

The majority of them were boring though, the lessons seemed to drag on for hours and hours and even after the class was dismissed, it felt like Ray had learned absolutely nothing during the entire process. If there was a class to be interested in, it was the one that Ray would probably despise the most…

Combat training, with Professor Goodwitch.

Ray could still feel the cold, unrelenting glare as he entered the room alongside the rest of the students, seemed the instructor had not yet forgiven him for the cork incident.

He suspected she wouldn't for a while.

 _Thanks, Kyzal._

Sitting down, Ray found himself absentmindedly staring amongst the other students, violet eyes glancing across the room with a mixture of indifference and apathy.

That was until his vibrant eyes soon fell on someone of immediate interest to him.

Black cowboy hat shielding black hair and a pair of lime green eyes, overcoat drenched with electrified water droplets, likely from the storm, and an attitude that rivalled even that of the Grimm.

 _Niro Ezdeil._

Elandrial's leader was surely a force to be reckoned with. Ray had never seen anyone so uncaring in his life, but more importantly, he possessed ways of intimidating others so easily that Ray could only guess at how he did it.

And while that may have been part of the reason why Ray was so intrigued by him, he couldn't help but feel a little concerned.

Ray drew up many conclusions on Niro Ezdeil on the day of the initiation; confident, apathetic, harsh, condescending, etc.

But the one that made itself so prominent aside from the others was that he seemed to be at Beacon for literally _any other reason_ than the Huntsmen training program.

And Ray knew for a fact that he wasn't about to get in the way of whatever that reason was. They may have been in the same boat, but they were in two _complete_ different oceans.

Glynda was just about to start her monotonous lecture when it dawned on Ray that she might have been seeking out a way to earn her revenge for her public humiliation.

She could easily put him up against someone of equal or higher skill than himself, or even fight him personally if she wanted to, and there wasn't a whole lot he could do to stop it.

"Good evening everyone," Professor Goodwitch spoke with professionalism, scanning the room with her emerald eyes, most likely making a headcount, "I will be your Combat Instructor for the semester. Here you will learn the basics of combat to be used both against Grimm and potential battles between Huntsmen and Huntresses, or those of a similar humanoid variety."

Ray scoffed, "The basics are what you learn in previous combat schools, to think that what she's speaking of is beginner level is a damn lie."

Scarlet turned to him, tilting her head in curiosity.

"W-what combat school did you go to, Ray?" she asked, aiming to learn more about her partner.

Ray lowered his violet eyes, staring blankly at the arena.

"I didn't attend one."

His partner's delicate eyebrows furrowed as she opened her mouth to reply, shut it, then opened it once more.

"W-were you home-schooled? A lot of people have Huntsman parents, so I'd understand if yours taught you."

Ray looked at her, donning a neutral expression just as Kyzal and Gabriel also started paying attention to the conversation.

"I used to be, but things quickly changed after a particular incident," he spoke lowly as he turned away to face the arena again, "I learned the basics from my father and… picked up the rest through trial and error."

His team wasn't sure how to respond to that response, save Kyzal.

"So, Professor Goodwitch claiming to be teaching the basics insults you?" The Faunus Archer asked, cocking an eyebrow.

Ray leaned further into his seat and slipped his hands into his pockets.

"It doesn't seem as though her intentions include undermining the training the students here have gone through, but if she is, she's making a bold statement," Ray replied evenly, observing the aforementioned instructor talk introductions.

"Now that we've concluded the opening lecture, let us delve into our first match." The woman spoke with pride, right as she eyed the beanie-clad hacker in his seat.

The boy levelled his gaze with her as she narrowed her eyes a fraction of an inch.

"I suspect that she seeks to avenge her ego though, so prepare yourselves for antipathy."

His team looked between Ray Chroma and Glynda Goodwitch, witnessing a subtle battle of wits occurring through each of their unwavering stares.

"Y-you're not going to let her do this, a-are you?" Scarlet stammered.

"Ray Chroma, please step forward."

Ray switched his attention to Scarlet as he lightly ruffled her hair.

"Your opponent will be Inuba Kitsukami." Goodwitch declared from the stage.

Ray's violet eyes met Scarlet's crimson pools for but a fleeting moment as he muttered his last words to her before the match.

"Time to find out."

The boy pulled himself out of his seat, adjusted the beanie on his head, straightened his jacket, and calmly made his way down to the arena floor.

He had no idea who his opponent was as a person, and couldn't care less about it either.

One thing stood out to him the most though.

 _She was a goddamned Kitsune…_

Ray could see her hesitancy as she looked toward her partner, who nodded toward the arena encouragingly.

" _If I've learned anything about these little shits in my time on this planet, this girl is faking it if she's apprehensive about engaging in combat."_ Ray thought to himself, scanning the girl from head to toe.

Ray crossed his arms, waiting for the fox's internal conflict to end so he could get this over with. If Professor Goodwitch intended to make an ass of him, he didn't want to keep the bitch waiting.

He began tapping his right foot out of habit, indicating his impatience with an impertinent display.

He could see the conversation between Inuba and her partner, whatever his name was. Likely still trying to process that she had been called upon, and not him.

"Ms Kitsukami?" Professor Goodwitch called out to her a second time, drawing the fox's attention to the stage once again.

"About _fucking_ time she paid attention." Ray murmured to himself, watching as the Kitsune made her way down the steps, occasionally glancing at the other students in her line of sight.

Ray didn't take his eyes off of the girl once, analysing his opponent as she approached him.

The girl - in Ray's opinion - was overdressed, she donned a white, sleeveless kimono that stopped just short of her waist, the same waist that has a black sash wrapped tightly around it. Both were decorated in black trimming, and underneath; she wore a tight, black spandex shirt.

She also had sleeves wrapped around her middle finger, around her palm, and the back of her hand that just reached her elbows.

Over these, the white-haired, fox-eared girl had another pair, only these ones were wide-cuffed and detachable – for reasons unknown – that also possessed a similar colouring to her kimono – white with a black trim.

Below the waist, however, was a black – _big surprise_ – pleated skirt with – _get this_ – white trimming – at the hem, and a pair of thigh-high socks.

Overly dressed was kind of an understatement for this girl, but her only redeeming quality at this point were the white shoes with black laces and soles.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Ray mumbled to himself once more, "it's as if she's a domino…"

Ray briefly glanced up into the crowd of spectators where her team was located and deadpanned.

They all looked the fucking same.

 _How monotonous…_

When she finally stood opposite Ray, the boy was just about ready to forfeit for her taking too long, but it appeared as though she had lost her mind in the clouds once again.

"Oh, for _God's_ sake…" Ray's spat, voice barely over a whisper as his temper was slowly coming to a boil.

Fortunately, it was the Instructor who shook the fox-girl out of her reverie.

"Ms Kitsukami? Are you ready to start?"

The girl was startled slightly, the ears on her head reflexively perking up as she soon paid attention to her immediate surroundings.

This was getting out of hand.

"Come on Fox, get with the program. I don't want to be wasting more time than I need to, so let's get this over with quickly." Ray called out from across the room, levelling his gaze with the girl and waiting for her response.

He was testing her, seeing how far she would go to defend her dignity.

Because even if this whole match was a means for Professor Goodwitch to have her revenge for the flying cork incident, Ray would be damned if he didn't make sure that he took something from this too.

Even if it resulted in the public humiliation of a complete and total stranger.

"If you aren't aware and focused, Mr Chroma, it will be over sooner than you think," the girl's snappy response brought out a mental scoff inside Ray.

 _Aware_ and _focused_.

She had quite the self-confidence using those two words when it took her more than three minutes to accept the fact that she was fighting him, and an additional 63 seconds on top of that to make her way to the arena.

However, Ray was willing to capitalise on her sense of pride…

"Oh cute; it has a temper." Ray's voice held no regard for whoever this Kitsune was, it practically defined the word monotonous in every sense of the word.

She was clearly offended, however, if the tail behind her was any indication. Ray watched calmly from his side of the arena as the girl's eyes narrowed in irritation before retaliating.

"That would be the last thing you'd like to experience," she glowered, stark-white tail continually swishing from side to side.

This was entertaining to Ray. It wasn't the first time he'd came face-to-face with a pissed off Kitsune, but it was the first time he had purposefully put himself in that situation. The hacker was pushing his luck to see how far it would go.

With a quick roll of the eyes, Ray inhaled to reply to Inuba's threat, letting her hollow words trickle through one ear and straight out of the other.

"I've seen worse."

He wasn't lying.

Journeying in and around the four kingdoms had exposed Ray and Lylac to some heinous events. Things that could mentally scar individuals, especially ones as young as they were.

The nightmares would persist for days…

"Then clearly…" a materialising katana on the left-hand side of Inuba's waist slowly appeared in a display of radiant white flames, "you've yet to see anything 'worse'."

For some _odd reason_ Ray couldn't put his finger on how she could possibly show him anything more terrifyingly unforgivable as a triple homicide, perpetrated by a delusional man caught in an endless cycle of murdering anything that so much as twitched, while the pair of them duelled inside a controlled environment under the supervision of a Professional Huntress.

So, the boy just gave the fox a condescending smirk and experienced immense satisfaction as her blood visibly boiled under her porcelain skin.

"Hey down there!" A masculine voiced called out from behind Ray's opponent, her partner, whatever his goddamn name was, was trying to garner the girl's attention.

 _Now what?_

Ray was getting really sick and tired of this.

"Keep it at the twenties level!"

 _What the hell is he talking about?_

"Remember! No roast beef!"

 _Roast beef?_ Ray didn't understand what he meant, but he was almost certain it was code for something.

Whatever that 'something' may be.

" _Oh!_ " Ray pretended to be shocked for a moment, donning the most degrading tone he could muster, "Is that your trained wrangler?"

His eyes returned to the Kitsune, eyeing her curiously as she closed her eyes and breathed slowly. It appeared as though she was searching for a method to calm down, but Ray didn't know, or care to be quite honest.

As his violet eyes were done analysing the girl, they were soon forced to return to her partner as he addressed the hacker with a half-assed insult and yet another hollow threat.

"Trust me Beanbag," the white-haired moron smirked, "making her angry is the last thing you'd ever want."

 _Don't tell me what I want and don't want, you prick._

"How wonderful, I've been looking for a quick death," Ray retorted apathetically, looking the boy dead in the eyes as he spoke, "Thanks for the advice."

Again, he wasn't lying, but it was far too early to accept his grave until he had finished what he had started, something that extended far beyond the missing final piece.

But _oh boy_ was it fulfilling to watch the expressions on the students' faces drop like a ton of bricks.

"Are the both of you quite finished?"

"My apologies." The Kitsune bowed, committing herself to kissing the teacher's ass.

Ray didn't even grace Goodwitch with a grunt.

He was ready to go before his name was even called, it was only thanks to those two white-haired morons that the pointless match got delayed for so long.

A message on his scrolled filtered into Ray's HUD, but the boy dismissed it as he mentally prepared himself for a fabricated loss.

To fight seriously was something he did in a time of need, not in a time of want and he neither needed nor wanted to fight the vermin in front of him in the first place.

He _was_ going to fuck this up, and he _was_ going to end it quickly. There were more important things to attend to.

Like reading his message.

"Combatants!"

The muscles in Ray's legs tensed as Goodwitch prepared the fight.

A matrix of genetically altered and well-tempered fibres pulled taut as Ray's instinctual response to the word "Begin!" was to charge the Kitsune head on.

Purposefully telegraphing his moves as to trick his audience into believing that he was no better than a slightly-trained novice.

It was child's play; the art of deception was always a weapon that Ray used frequently.

It kept things interesting.

As the boy reached striking distance, Inuba had her sword raised across her body, readying herself to stab at his shoulder.

Ray took this opportunity to summon a blade, with his gauntlet performing its role as a conduit for the energy he generated, strands of violet light began leaking into the open air before a sharp crackle of high-frequency energy, followed closely by a distinct burst of crystalline humming emanated from Ray's hands.

While usually a dual wielder, Ray had trained thoroughly in the art of a single short sword.

Upon its creation, Ray brought it forward and skilfully made use of its flat side to block the katana held firmly by the kitsune before him, sliding back onto his heels in the process.

She seemed initially shocked by the speed at which the encounter happened, though Ray was all for winding the damned fox up a little further, "Well well, seems you can hit hard…"

Ray's next move came in the form of a quick shove, forcing Inuba's blade away and attacking in rapid succession, clashing viciously with Inuba as they both fought with undeniable tenacity.

The clanging of metal against crystallized light resonated throughout the arena, ringing in the ears of the pair's audience hanging at the edge of their seats.

Despite Ray's lacklustre performance, he was starting to somewhat enjoy this little spar.

So much so, that the effort he had intended to put into it had increased slightly, each attack he laid into the kitsune became more and more focused as he poured more effort into his act.

Inuba was quick to parry and block his swings though, despite each aimed at any opening he could find. Muscle memory aiming for pressure points, joints, and just about anything to give him a slight edge.

None of it mattered anyway. It was just a pretend fight.

It was ridiculous, really. Sparring against one another without any real danger to the situation.

Sure, they could be hurt, but it was never lethal, never costly enough to force you to correct yourself in the future.

That's was one of the many reasons why Ray hated this place.

They butter students up by forcing them into these pretend fights against the same group of students for four years of their lives, telling them it'll help them in the long run, but in reality; it was all a sham.

After graduation, they'd go out, face a new opponent, then learn the hard way whether or not these pretend fights were worth it.

Sadly, only a few benefitted from them.

Ray didn't anticipate the swing Inuba made as he stabbed for her arm, and had mere milliseconds to shroud his forearm in hard light to defend himself.

He forced her blade away from his chest, internally breathing out a sigh of relief… and pain.

Ray wasn't going to lie, that _hurt_ , but he'd be a fool to grant the fox any indication of that. She could go fuck herself, that cocky little mongrel.

Ray watched as she painted her katana in a stream of blistering white flames, running her fingers along its hardened surface until the entire sword was ablaze.

 _Probably wasn't even her final form…_

Before Ray could catch a break, the girl suddenly dashed forward, much faster than what he would have liked as she came at him from the side, forcing him back on the defensive as he expanded his barrier, unfurling the hard light around his arm and reshaping it into a kite shield.

This shield took the impact, but his arm still suffered damage.

And with just enough Aura to sustain both hard light constructs, this bootleg defence wouldn't last long.

The shield had already suffered critical damage and was on the verge of shattering. Ray wasn't even going to bother repairing it, he knew this was an uphill battle from the start.

The trembling in his arm was a just reminder of that.

Inuba, with her renewed vigour, kept coming at Ray like the attack dog she was, dedicated to cutting down his defences.

Ray's shield wasn't enough to defend himself from her next attack, so his sword was also used in tandem to compensate. Luckily, he was successful in blocking the strike, but his counterattack fell short.

This happened multiple times, Inuba attacked, then Ray blocked, but he would miss the counter attack.

Eventually, Ray was forced to use a more evasive move set, dodging her slices, instead of blocking them.

He really fucking hated Kitsunes.

Crafty, shady-eyed, aggressive little bitches.

That's all they were and Inuba Kitsukami was no different in his eyes.

As he avoided another attack, she used some mystical _bullshit_ to knock him off balance, giving her a hefty amount of room to destroy his inkling shield in one final strike, littering the air and ground with the depressing shards of his collapsed energy.

He knew it was game over at this point, he practically gave up as soon as he walked into the arena, but now he was just waiting for it to happen.

The kick to his chest that both winded him and sent him careening backwards was just a testament to this.

In a real fight, he would have grabbed her foot and ankle and snapped the fucking thing like a twig.

But no, he had to stick to the plan.

He needed the instructor to get off his back, and if putting on a show where he loses in a fight horribly was one way of doing that, he would happily oblige.

And his message was still waiting for him.

 _However…_

He was still going to get a kick out of this spar even if it was the last thing he did.

As the Kitsune turned to her wrangler with a face full of self-importance, Ray initiated the beginning of the end.

"Oh no…" Scarlet whispered, "I've seen that look before…"

Ray had a slight smirk as he pulled out hard light replications of wire saws; long strands of hard light cables beautifully coupled with serrated teeth running down their length.

"I have a feeling that son of a bitch is going to do something he's about to regret." Kyzal murmured, eyeing the boy with slightly narrowed eyes, hidden by the hood he wore.

Inuba's innocence distracted her as she received praise from her partner, grinned vividly as she declared a premature victory.

Only for that victory to be completely and utterly destroyed as the near-silent whistle of Ray's wire saws whipped through the air, garnering the attention of the Kitsune at the last second as she narrowly escaped their destructive path.

The front of her kimono didn't fare so well, but the event ended up better than Ray had expected as the article of clothing was sliced through with ease, shamelessly revealing the bust of the girl in front of the _entire class_.

Her dignity spared only by her compression tank top, the kitsune stood trembling as her ears folded atop her head. Embarrassed beyond words.

It was _glorious_. Complete and total humiliation.

 _Up yours, Goodwitch, your attack dog has been defiled._

A few libidinous comments were thrown around the class as most of the male occupants and some of the female ones gawked in disbelief.

Ray's smirk quickly turned into a blooming grin. It didn't matter what happened next, he may have lost the battle, but he had already won the war.

He straightened his posture and stared at the girl, a challenging spark of defiance flickering in his eyes.

Only for that to be returned with a glowing pointed finger.

Ray raised his defence up in expectation, knowing that it probably wouldn't do much. What he had done was completely worth it.

It did nothing.

Whatever it was that the kitsune fired at him went straight through his barrier like it wasn't even there.

A look of shock quickly replaced the once smug grin Ray donned, the boy himself narrowly escaping being pinned to the back wall. Instead, the shot glanced off of him, his Aura shouldering the impact and reducing the overall damage he received.

The same could not be said for his jacket as a scorched rip in the fabric was now present, but Ray considered it as justified since he completely defaced the front of her kimono not 5 minutes beforehand.

However, the kinetic energy behind the attack was enough to force his body back, the soles of his canvas shoes screeching across the wooden floor as he soon recovered by driving a hard light sword into the ground to cease his movement.

She must've taken that attack on her dignity far more personally than Ray estimated she would. It was no one's fault but his own. Kitsune were proud creatures after all.

When everything had settled, Ray's immediate response was to look ahead, to where Inuba was, only to find her practically breathing down the back of his neck instead.

When he whirled around to face her, she had disappeared once more, returning to her original orientation behind him.

Ray swung his sword around, hoping to catch her off guard, but it was no use anyway, he was tired, drained of all but a bare minimum amount of Aura, and unwilling to drag this pointless charade on any further.

Inuba had dodged his backhanded attack and caught the blade on his next one.

The girl then retaliated by thrusting her sword through his goddamned shoe.

"You _motherfu-_ "

Ray paused as she delicately placed her right index into his left shoulder again.

It was then that he realised that this fight had gone from simple spar to grudge match. All because of a torn kimono.

 _Oh, get a hold of yourself, you cry-baby._

Inuba muttered some incoherent words, something about fire or whatever, but Ray was finally done with this match.

Raising both hands submissively, he conceded, "Alright, alright! I give."

Inuba scowled at him for a few awkwardly silent moments, her eyes burning holes through his own before crushing what was left of Ray's already broken sword.

She then finally withdrew her own blade and Ray stumbled slightly as she did not do so gently.

Then the bitch had the audacity to lecture him…

"You could have easily continued the fight given your abilities, and even possibly have escaped my trap for you are clearly stronger than what you presented yourself to be," she spoke condescending words with a reassuring inflexion.

She was definitely a kitsune, especially with that holier-than-thou demeanour she paraded around, trying her very best to make sure that whatever she does, she can do it better than you.

 _Go fuck yourself._

 _Or your partner. Whichever comes first, you blatant whore._

"That, and your Aura signature clearly confirms that theory for me. Why did you hold back? Or rather, why did you throw the match?"

The real answer to her question would have been underwhelming and a complete disappointment for her. She was looking for a way to inflate her ego, even if she didn't show it.

Ray wasn't about to give her the full reason behind his piss-poor performance, but he would at least give her something to think about.

"Who says this wasn't a victory for me? You can learn a lot more from a loss than you can from a win," Ray dusted himself off as he spoke, placing his hands in his pockets thereafter, "and thanks to your temper and sense of pride, I've learned a lot more through this than I could ever learn through a face-to-face conversation."

She didn't look too satisfied with his answer, but he couldn't care less as he turned toward the exit stairs, gazing at her over his shoulder.

"Besides… the only time I'll ever fight seriously is if something intends to kill me."

As the hacker began walking away, he suddenly paused and turned back to face her for a brief moment for one final word.

"Oh, and you should cover up those ridiculous tits of yours."

Seriously, she must have had to have been a prostitute before she came here if she was comfortable in exposing herself like that.

 _Disgusting, really._

Ray reclaimed his seat next to Scarlet who had an expression on her face he didn't recognise. Facial analysis told him that is was a mixture of pride and shame.

But he wouldn't put it past Scarlet to break the system given who she was.

"You should have done better than that."

Ray had no response on hand, far more interested in his scroll.

He had a message to read after all.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **I procrastinate like a bitch on the best of days, not to mention I've been busy as hell too.**

 **I assure you though, the next chapter won't be as long of a wait as this one was.**

 **Can anyone guess who messaged Ray though?**

 **I can... _oh wait..._**

 **On that note, for those that have forgotten or don't know, in order to understand what the hell is going on in this story, you need to read** **Rogue Huntsman** **by** **Xera Stark** **, and on top of that, for another great story about the same plot, go and read** **Knights of White and Black** **generously brought to you by** **andy2396.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this story, please feel free to give it and myself a** _ **Favourite**_ _ **,**_ _ **Follow**_ _ **,**_ **and a** _ **Review.**_

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


	16. Chapter 16

**{Logic}**

' _When are you coming to visit me, Ray? xoxo'_

Ray read the message from Lylac several times before he sent an appropriate response.

' _I don't know where you're living.'_

Her answer took a couple of minutes to come through, but it was likely that she was preoccupied anyway.

' _You have the means to find out.'_

The boy let off a hushed sigh as he typed his next reply, completely uninterested in the spar happening down on the arena floor.

' _I'm not tracing your scroll's location just to find out where you chose to turn into your safe house/brothel.'_

Ly took her time to reply again.

' _You COULD just ask, you know.'_

Ray sighed in defeat.

Granted, he didn't think of that…

But given the short amount of time between getting her a new apartment and the time he had to ask for the address, there weren't a whole lot of opportunities to do so.

' _Send me the address and I'll see if I can make it out later tonight.'_

' _Will do, love you xoxo'_

With that out of the way, Ray's focus dipped into the arena and watched as Cardin Winchester established himself as a professional seal clubber.

It clearly came naturally to the boy – the ability to bully the lesser men beneath him.

There was a blonde-haired, blue-eyed moron, if Ray had ever seen one. Absolutely nothing exceptional about him whatsoever, except his name.

 _Maybe_.

Jaune Arc.

Scrawny and incompetent seemed to define his entire existence as he was helplessly slapped around the arena by some brute with a club.

It was almost sad. Pitiful even. Though Ray had no sympathy with that yellow-headed imbecile.

If the hacker was honest with himself, he had more incentive to take his team out and buy them all a grease-filled slab of meat sandwiched between two withered, somewhat stale bricks of what could barely be considered bread, commonly found at the local fast food "restaurant".

Oh wait. Scarlet was a vegetarian, so some leaves and a tomato for her then.

The victor of this fight was pretty damn obvious.

Why even bother staying?

That said, he had literally no other plans. So, he begrudgingly decided to stay and watch anyway.

That was until Cardin Winchester delivered some utterly asinine monologue right before kneeing his prey in the nose.

Ray wouldn't be surprised if he had broken it. Normal bones are surprisingly fragile.

Sadly, the poor little seal pup had no time to lick his wounds before his fiery-haired partner came to his rescue, offering him a helping hand that was dismissed with a weak smile and fake display of bravado.

Ray had seen that miserable expression too many times.

The same damn countenance.

The same damn lie.

"I'm fine" or "I'm okay" usually accompanying the same damn mask.

And the ones that put on this façade were usually the quickest to run to their demise.

The hacker had experienced this first-hand.

" _When you make yourself harder, you only become brittle. Recognise and accept your weaknesses, and you can use your knowledge of them to grow."_

These were the words Orion Chroma told his son many years ago, during the untold number of days of training they went through.

Despite not understanding them at the time, they've helped Ray more times than he could count.

Sighing, the boy watched with uncaring eyes as Jaune Arc limped away to recover.

"This wasn't a particularly _engaging_ fight," Kyzal muttered to the side, "more of a one-sided beatdown if you ask me."

"Guy can't catch a break, seems that Cardin guy's shaping up to be your regular schoolyard bully. Typical." Gabriel responded to his partner's comment with an air of disdain in his voice.

Seems Ray wasn't the only one on his team with a strong hatred of bullying.

Nor was he the only one willing to use force to put an end to it either.

He chose not to comment on the matter, but he was partial to agreeing with his teammates.

"Our next scheduled match will be our last for the day," a saving grace from Glynda Goodwitch was music to Ray's ears for multiple reasons.

For one, the class was ending and lunch was next, which meant he could temporarily escape this unholy nightmare.

Add that to the fact that he didn't have to get involved with any further activities also made it extensively easier, having already played his part as the punching bag.

His arm still hurt from that mongrel's temper tantrum.

He paid no mind to it though. Calling off the match when he did spared him the Aura he need to use to heal the negligible damage anyway.

Too bad he had no opportunity to return the hits he took. He was the exact opposite of a glass cannon, despite his disposition toward avoiding hits.

An iron blowgun.

Well, technically a _titanium-steel_ blowgun, but it didn't matter.

He could probably push for a titanium-steel _slingshot_ if he had actually tried to win though.

Despite Inuba's skill with her Semblance - or whatever the hell that was – her swordplay was surprisingly weaker than he had expected.

Wasn't his problem though. He just wanted to call the day off.

He couldn't do that though, not when additional educational exercises in futility waited sadistically on the chronological horizon.

 _More_ classes he wouldn't pay attention to, nor engage in.

 _Oh, wait, Glynda was talking…_

"Mr. Ezdeil and Miss Valkyrie, please make your way down and prepare yourselves for combat."

Ray's eyes alternated between the dark horse and what appeared to be a ginger pipe bomb.

 _But what's this?_

"I forfeit!"

The girl straight up quit, right before the fight had even begun.

 _What?_

Ray gave her a once over, short ginger hair, turquoise eyes.

She wore a collared black vest that ended at her waist, and beneath that was a white sleeveless top with a heart shaped keyhole between her upper chest and collarbone.

As she held her hand up in the air, flashing an apologetic smile, Ray noticed she had a pink fingerless glove.

Further inspection revealed that she wore its twin on her other hand.

She sported a pink skirt below the waist, ending mid-thigh.

"Interesting…"

Ray muttered to himself, remarking not her choice of clothing, but her decision to give up almost immediately after being called.

 _Could you forfeit to prevent participation?_

This was something the hacker was going to abuse.

"Miss Valkyrie, exercising your right to forfeit is within the conduct of this class. However, to do so before a match begins is bad sportsmanlike- "

The pipe bomb was having none of Glynda's lecture.

"I know, but I can't go down there against him! He'll cream me!" Miss Valkyrie exclaimed, falling back into her seat.

 _What did you do, Ezdeil?_

It would seem, after careful inspection of the rest of the class, that none of which wanted to go and fight him.

He didn't look so tough, but then again, appearances can be very, _very_ deceiving.

If most, if not all, of the class, outright refused to fight him, there must have been a logical reason for it.

"Very well, your participation grade will not suffer. But do keep in mind that if this is a reoccurring problem with you, I will deduct points from your overall marks in this class. This is your only warning, now," Ray eyed the professor as she scanned the audience for a suitable test subject, "Mr. Tyro, please step forward- "

 _Another one?_

"Uh, I forfeit too. Sorry." A tall boy, well-built for brute strength, easily twice the size of Niro Ezdeil, also forfeited immediately.

 _What the hell?_

Ray turned to his own team, eyeing each as they were all subtly, yet noticeably shaking their heads.

"Even you, Scarlet?" Ray questioned, narrowing his eyes inquisitively at the girl as she avoided eye contact and sank into her seat.

"H-he… _unsettles_ me…" she whimpered quietly, hiding her face behind her sanguine hair.

Ray slowly turned his head back to the arena, trying to wrap his head around why someone who took down several large Grimm while laughing absolutely hysterically would refuse to fight one boy.

She was a maniac, but even _she_ had the common sense not to kick a hornet's nest, it seemed.

Glynda Goodwitch called out another student.

Mr. Tyro's partner _also_ declined the offer presented to her.

This was going to make for a very interesting class.

Especially if Niro Ezdeil couldn't find a willing partner to spar with. Though Ray suspected the boy couldn't care less about his participation.

The black he was cloaked in really worked to consolidate that.

"Is anyone here willing to spar with Mr. Ezdeil?" Goodwitch addressed the entire class instead of cherry-picking from the benches.

Ray had made his effort for the day, so he was completely out of the question.

Glynda looked surprised past her stoic expression and her heart rate had also increased by 15.3%.

Was that excitement Ray detected?

"Anyone?"

No one moved a goddamn muscle.

Heads suddenly swivelled as two hands shot up in Ray's peripheral vision, the first belonging to a blonde-haired girl wearing clothing that only accentuated Ray's instant judgement of her being more promiscuous than most others, and the other belonged to-

 _Son of a bitch…_

It appeared as though Prince Charming had the balls to step up where no one else would too.

Ray was not surprised.

Talking down to him right before he was about to fight the kitsune.

Condescending asshole. Ray _hoped_ he would get his ass beat by Niro.

But it was not to be.

After careful manipulation of her silver tongue, that yellow thing that accepted the challenge first put Prince Charming down with ease after stating some asinine "I have a grudge, kindly fuck off" type message.

 _Are all teenagers this petty?_

Ray's limited experience with people his own age left him, in most cases, clueless in regards to their social norms.

This may very well be adolescence in its entirety or only a fragment of a larger spanning picture.

In either case, he wasn't sure.

It's not like he had the time to find out either.

 _[Mirror Protocol Start]_

Oh, right…

As those words filtered through Ray's vision, he was swiftly reminded of his ab-human nature.

The trusty Mirror Protocol, a useful tool, practically the foundation of his survival over the past six years.

It was a system set in place with the sole intention of analysing and documenting new actions for Ray to call upon when he needed them.

It was an intense method of learning, but undeniably critical.

In this instance, the system had begun to observe and document Niro Ezdeil and his opponent, Yang Xiao Long during their spar.

Its first target was Niro, watching as he leapt over the arena wall and landed silently onto the arena floor itself before swiftly redirecting Ray's attention to the boy's adversary, Yang.

It logged her brash, aggressive behaviour almost instantly as the girl cracked her knuckles, rolled her neck, and punched the palm of her hand with a confident grin.

She was eager to get payback for whatever the hell Niro had done.

"Oh, I've been _waiting_ for this one," Yang teased Niro as the bones in her neck popped, "You dissed my partner, you dissed me, and you used my sister for your little game of slaughter. I think I need to teach you a little something about family."

"And while you're at it, you might as well make out with him too," Gabriel whispered to the rest of renegades, earning a small giggle from Scarlet.

Ray and Kyzal weren't so easily humoured though, both watching Niro and Yang with large interests.

"You think family means nothing to me?" Niro asked, flexing the fingers of his gloved hand as he looked at the girl with a canted stance.

"Pfft, with the way you've been acting and talking, I doubt you even know what respect is, let alone the meaning of family, or how they should be treated," Ray grimaced slightly, those words, in a sense, could apply to him too…

"Even if they're not related by blood," Yang adopted a boxer's stance as she laughed.

It was fake.

That laugh was a mask if Ray had ever seen one.

The bout of hostility ended with Glynda's strict voice piercing the arena, "The match will begin momentarily."

The Mirror Protocol was still very much in effect.

It was observing and logging every minute twitch the pair of fighters made, studying them with absolute fervency. Even as they stood in wait, it was watching.

"The first person whose aura enters the red loses, and the match will be stopped immediately,"

Learning someone's fighting pattern was a key solution to outplaying them, rather than using brute strength alone to crush them.

"Any damage past that will not be tolerated,"

If you declaw a cat, it can no longer scratch you. Ray had always preferred that level of precision over brutality.

"Furthermore, the match can be called at any time under my own discretion or that of one of the combatants,"

That wasn't to say Ray was a stranger to brute force. The offensive capabilities of his semblance were limitless, but his disposition to keep it restrained often avoided exhausting himself, which saved him more times than he had eaten hot dinners.

"…both of which have the right to forfeit."

 _Always_ use the method that works best.

"Anything else applies, so long as they are within reason."

Energy was a finite resource, so there was no point in wasting it with overkill.

"Are you two ready?" Glynda asked after listing all the rules.

Yang nodded, eager to beat Niro's face in like a sandbag. Niro merely regarded his opponent out of the corner of his eye.

Something about his posture indicated that he wasn't taking this seriously. Almost as if he was knowingly undermining Yang and her personal bout of revenge.

"So be it."

The spotlights dimmed until only the arena floor was shown, those with the ability to see in the dark wouldn't be too affected by this, though it helped divert all attention to the fight, basic psychological manipulation.

"Begin."

That word gave Yang the permission she needed to charge headlong into Ezdeil and deliver unto him the wrath of a woman scorned.

Or to boil it down, a punch to the stomach followed quickly by the discharging of what seemed to be a shotgun embedded inside her flaming golden gauntlets.

The blast from her weapon let off a loud, resonating micro-explosion of whatever power the shells contained.

But something was wrong, and Ray spotted it easily.

The pellets went _through_ Ezdeil's body.

"What the hell?" the boy whispered, eyes widening a fraction of an inch.

That shouldn't have happened, but before Ray could call anything out, Yang landed a swift jab into her opponent's jaw, pushing him back slightly as he gave no retaliation.

This wasn't right.

Ray was then immediately notified by the Mirror Protocol that Niro's ribcage and lung had just received serious trauma.

 _Why is he taking damage?_

His aura should have shrugged those hits off with ease, and yet Ray was receiving a constant supply of warnings and cautions regarding his physical state.

He was taking physical damage in this fight, but it was so subtle and happening so fast that no one was noticing anything wrong.

Yang pounded into him, delivering strike after strike after strike, her previously hidden rage quickly becoming prominent as she beat the boy into a bloody mess.

There was an underlying hatred surrounding her, like the air she was breathing fuelled this anger and drove her to hurt Niro more.

He just took it all…

 _Wait…_

 _Was a part of a plan?_

There is _no way_ anyone in this school would just stand there and take those hits without some kind of counterattack.

Yang was practically dancing around him, driving the hardest points on her body into him with the unyielding intent to do as much harm as she could, firing her weapons nonchalantly as if there was no danger to his life whatsoever.

It wasn't until her final shotgun shell fired that she ceased her assault, lung racked with laboured breathing.

Vitals on her showed that her heart was beating rapidly, but was quickly circulating the blood through her body.

Physical fitness surrounded her life it would seem.

Niro on the other hand, had more holes in him than a dartboard, irony would have it that he was pinned against the wall like one as well.

He was in really bad shape…

As he wiped his bloodied mouth with the back of his wrist, the words he muttered were barely audible, but judging by Yang's horrified expression at her own realisation at what she'd just done, they must have been pretty haunting.

Before anyone had any time to react to what was going on, save Scarlet who was trying not to gag, Niro's body illuminated in a brilliant lime green.

And through the light that blinded everyone else, Ray watched as every cut, scratch, bullet wound, and broken bone fixed itself in a few short moments.

Ray's eyes didn't blink once, not even after the Mirror Protocol signalled its deactivation in his heads-up display.

As Niro's aura burned away any impurities his clothing had accumulated, Ray's focus momentarily switched to Yang as her horror turned to complete and total confusion.

Whatever Niro had said to her, it was doing a damn fine job of making her think.

And after what she had just done, it was probably a good thing too.

Her sunken frame stood there idly, dragging her voice from the bloody floor to her bloody gauntlets.

"W-wait," she spoke, directing it toward Niro as he walked away, "Why did you…" she paused. The feeling of being lost clung to her being as she glanced up at Niro, "Why didn't you fight back?"

"Good fucking question," Ray murmured to himself as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

"I had no reason to."

Bingo!

There it was.

The ulterior motive Ray had been searching for.

Whatever motive that may have been…

And as Yang said something unheard by most of the audience, Niro's departing words were rather comical.

"I forfeit."

* * *

Docile Grimm did not exist.

It didn't matter how wise or intelligent they were, whether they were trained by the most masterful of tamers, or possessed an electric collar.

Docile Grimm _did not_ exist.

Ray's eyes never left the Nevermore sat in the corner of the classroom, the wooden board beneath the beast labelling it 'Lanza'.

It showed no hostility as it scanned the room with cautious eyes, but Ray held his reservations that it would attack if anyone so much as looked at it funny.

RGDS picked seats as far back in the room as possible, though not because of the Nevermore.

In a room, full of creatures trained to kill it, the bird remained surprisingly calm.

No, they chose the back of the class because it made it easier to talk amongst themselves.

Gabriel and Scarlet were optimistically talking about the new teacher the four of them were about to be introduced to, with Kyzal casually cutting in.

Ray never stopped staring at the Nevermore.

Especially when it began burning holes through Mister Ezdeil.

No one had seen the boy for the past hour and a half after he was mutilated and put back together again. So, when he locked eyes with the juvenile Grimm, it certainly garnered some attention.

Those sat closest to him evacuated the area quickly.

That was fear Ray saw in their eyes, or at the very least, concern.

Nobody liked him, or at the very least, _trusted him_.

Ray was indifferent, the hacker couldn't care less about Niro Ezdeil so long as they didn't get in each other's way.

Not like that would happen anyway, Ray's inclination to interact with him was entirely non-existent.

"Yo."

The new voice flashed with a rising pheromones diagnostic across Ray's vision as he widened his gaze.

It didn't take him long to pinpoint where the increase in levels came from.

 _One seat_ to his right.

 _Is she suicidal?_

Releasing toxins into the air like that could get her killed.

On the bright side, it might liven things up a little.

But it _still wasn't helping_ that Scarlet's eyes were drilling a hole through the new girl's lithe legs, someone who'd just _very daringly_ slid up carelessly to Niro's side and made herself comfortable.

That can't be good, the last thing the class needed was another running riot.

Ray's concern only grew as Scarlet's interest suddenly skyrocketed.

The least he could do was take in her appearance as if there was much to look at in the first place.

Small, less meat than a butcher's pencil, and dressed in purple and black.

 _Remarkable._

It didn't matter what she looked like, her voice was about as entertaining to listen to as a fork scratching a porcelain plate.

Or a sandpaper massage.

Scarlet didn't hold these values. Her conversation with Gabriel died down and fizzled out of existence as she dedicated her short attention span toward the girl challenging fate itself.

"What's up? Sitting alone?"

 _Such an acute observation, well done. What else do your_ purple _eyes see?_

The girl placed her cheek in her hand as she gazed at Niro with an unwarranted interest.

"I would be, if you weren't here."

"How far would I need to be for you to be alone?" The girl tilted her head in confusion, or in question.

She was far too expressive.

"Further than you'd think," Niro muttered. He was enjoying company, clearly.

"Off-campus?"

"Off-planet."

Ouch.

"Well, seeing as how I can't leave the planet," _Sadly,_ "looks like I'm stuck here. And since you won't be alone no matter how far I get, I'll just stay put."

Logically sound, well played.

She shifted her center of gravity, clearly located inside her head, from side to side, smiling all the while.

"Anyone can leave the planet. They just have to jump high enough," Niro spoke with sincerity, a noticeable pattern.

Ray witnessed the girl literally stare at the ceiling, humming to herself in deep thought.

 _She can't be that stupid, surely?_

"How high do you think that'd be? Wouldn't the gravity of the nearest planet pull you back down eventually?"

The girl definitely seemed to possess _some_ form of intelligence, so why was she-

"Bring whip cream and hold your breath, I'm sure you'll be able to propel yourself to the nearest ice cream space store with life-support."

 _Uh oh…_

Scarlet's heightened interest tripled after hearing that one sentence, everything in her proximity blurring into white noise as her focus was solely, and wholly on Niro.

Ray turned to face his partner, amethyst eyes glancing over her small frame as she leaned forward with her head resting in her hands and a small, almost subtle smirk curled across her lips.

She was enjoying this, for the most part.

Her crimson eyes alternated between Niro and his unknown conversational partner, responding to whoever was speaking with a deep concentration.

"There's ice cream in space?!" the high-pitched shriek followed by an overdramatic gasp was without a doubt one hell of a fucking ruse.

She was playing.

Of course, she was…

Ice cream in space? There was no way in hell anyone would fall for that.

No wa-

 _You're fucking with me…_

Scarlet was falling for it if the excited little shaking that encompassed her body coupled with the shining gleam in her vermillion eyes was any indication.

Her smile had widened too.

Ray could feel a lot of questions coming his way.

"All kinds. The asteroids are made of them, after all. They have stations that orbit like satellites and droids that mine passing debris, scavenging the frozen goods into storage units before transporting shipments down to Remnant."

 _Stop this. You're feeding lies into an innocent, gullible child._

"Why didn't anyone tell me about this?!" Ray watched as the girl's claws dug into Niro's collar and tugged. The force she put into her grip was infinitely weaker than she would have hoped.

She successfully proceeded to pull herself back and forth, as opposed to shaking Niro.

 _Good job, moron._

"Nobody told me ice cream came from space!" her exclamation was deafening, almost causing interference with Ray's sensor arrays.

 _Kindly go fuck yourself. With a chainsaw._

Niro's gaze strayed away from her, possibly contemplating suicide. Ray knew he would.

Granted, the number of students who inevitably ceased all communication to focus on her was impressive, though unsurprising.

She wasn't someone who could be so easily ignored.

 _Someone get her a bottle of fucking milk already._

"Why do you think it's so cold?"

 _Because it's fucking refrigerated._

Ray couldn't wrap his head around the reason behind spinning such an intricate lie, his brows furrowing into a frown before his concentration was broken by a nudge on his left.

His head turned to face Kyzal, who then proceeded to redirect his attention back to Scarlet, who, in the midst of the commotion, was ready to explode.

Why did Niro have to shake the soda can?

She was quite literally trembling with bottled up exhilaration, the unspoken fear of her exploding was subtly shared amongst Kyzal and Ray in a moment of brief concern.

With another irritating gasp, the banshee sat next to Niro drew in another breath before she spoke again, "You're so right… it is cold!"

 _Eat a brick._

"This explains everything!"

 _Make it stop…_

"It explains why you're so hyper."

 _No Niro, someone attached crocodile clips to her and shocked her with 1000 volts._

"That too!" as graceful as she could possibly be, her hand slammed into the desk before her, it was surprising that she didn't go straight through it, "The drifting ice cream balls in space probably keep their form due to the pressure of the vacuum! And the removal of heat just keeps them in a constant state of a chilled, delectable treat of possible extinction!"

Ray had to take it back, she didn't deserve to eat a brick. No, she needed to eat the _chainsaw_ after fucking herself with it.

If she intended to put on a show to break the ice, she succeeded, additionally, she drew the undivided attention of everyone in the class. _And_ , to add to that, she managed to fuck with the minds of almost every student there.

Almost.

This was all bullshit to Ray, and he could have done without it, but the simultaneous ingenuity of this girl combined with the absurdity of her charade was too conflicting a matter to ignore.

"Now you know what killed the dinosaurs. An orbital bombardment of galactic ice cream balls large enough to wipe them into extinction and simultaneously introduce the ruptured world to the delectable treat found in every corner store across Vale," Niro seemed to take amusement from fueling the flames of the string of lies.

Ray shifted in a bout of repressed anger.

He was hating this place more and more. With every passing second, it was niggling at the protective, fortified walls of his growing temper.

This school wasn't a place to train warriors, it was a breeding ground for mental patients.

The inside of his head was willing to wage war against itself, torn between losing his shit and storming out, or restraining his rage and staying put.

 _Where the hell is the teacher?_

"Poor prehistoric creatures… they never got to taste the ice cream…" her falsified sorrow was winding Ray up more than he cared to admit, the hands in his pockets twitching, just _ready_ to jump down there and throttle her neck, "Ice cream's like my life essence. I couldn't imagine living without it."

 _Probably couldn't imagine living without oxygenated blood either, but there's a first time for everything._

"Try dying once in a while, you'll realize what you can and can't live without," Niro turned to her after his response, taking the time to analyze her quickly.

Ray wouldn't grant her the same respect, they'd been there for ten minutes and she'd already confused him and pissed him off.

Black and purple, lacks an indoor voice, _annoying_.

Those were the only three things the hacker would take away from this encounter with that thing.

Not like she had anything useful to offer, other than nonsensical slander and a headache.

"Have you died before?"

 _Don't be ridiculous._

 _Oh, wait, too late for that now._

"I don't think I have… maybe I did but I just can't remember it," her earlier sadness had magically disappeared.

Maybe she did possess some kind of mental illness.

Ray hated this girl and every syllable that slipped out of her face hole built on that hatred even further.

At this point, the boy had half a mind to kill her, and the other half agreed.

The patience he had being eroded away in tiny increments until he reached his limit.

He was only waiting for it at this point.

To compare her to anyone else would be an insult to them.

Not even Scarlet was this bad, and her delicacy already wound Ray up enough as it is.

But this girl… this bastardized amalgam of cute and funny cut up and spliced with manipulation and vexation…

It wasn't worth it… he'd need to wash his jacket again.

Clenching fists loosened as he gave up on trying to rationalize her skewed perception of reality.

"Once or twice," Ray watched silently, inhaling slowly through his nose and exhaling through his mouth, as Niro's gaze locked with the nevermore's.

"I wouldn't associate yourself with him if I were you," that voice…

It reeked of self-indulgence.

Violet eyes snapped to its origin and the rage he had been trying to quell very quickly made its return, though with a different, _valid_ target this time.

The Schnee heiress?

No way…

No fucking way…

At _this_ school?

Ray hoped she wasn't here to stay, wouldn't surprise him if she was here to scout the place for her _revered_ father's future purchase.

She'd _better_ own another bank account too. Because if Ray had his way, he was going to bleed her current one dry.

Pristine white, dressed up and looking out of place in an establishment like this. The hacker was surprised he missed her disgusting presence in the first place.

Once he was done with his goal, he'd make sure she'd realise that this was _not_ a place for royalty.

Her father alone was a piece of work, the knowledge that he'd spread his seed to some poor wretch and brought up _three_ little darling abominations of the same holier-than-thou calibre was an insult not only to society but the entire recorded history of mankind to date.

If there was any minute inkling of hope in her that she'd become a certified huntress, let alone a respected one, she had better wrap it up in a neat little bow-tied gift box and incinerate it with the valuable, slave-mined energy propellant she so casually and pridefully advertises.

Before Ray had the opportunity to open his mouth and murmur a string of curses, the purple goblin from before beat him to it, "Really? Why do you think that?"

Schnee progeny number two rolled her eyes and crossed her arms, sending a little glare toward Niro that bounced off him with very little resistance.

"He's bad news."

 _Look who's talking._

"So whoever you are, just don't bother with him. It'll only lower your status as a respectable individual."

Status. She brought status into it.

Ray wasn't surprised in the slightest, Schnees held onto their precious reputation like it was the only thing that kept them alive.

"Oh, hey, we were just talking about icy stuff. Did you know ice cream came from space?" the goblin replied, grinning at the Schnee with defiance.

How intriguing…

It was switching targets now.

"Oh dear god, please don't tell me you don't _actually_ believe that?"

 _Get off your high horse and sit down like a good student you insufferable little-_

"Weiss… nobody knows where ice cream comes from, maybe they're right."

Ray recognised this speaker, the other red little girl, Ruby Rose.

Not very confident, from the looks of things.

Not very smart either, if the space-originating ice cream theory was leaving her in a state of uncertainty.

To her credit, she was making an effort to mediate the argument before it started.

"No, you dunce! Ice cream comes from little dwarves in the mountains!" the Schnee puffed her chest out as she faced the girl.

Ray recorded the last five minutes of audio too.

That was blackmail material if he'd ever seen any.

A sea of stifled laughter erupted from the benches around her, two of the three members of Ray's team joining them.

The gambler, in particular, clutching his stomach as his body wracked with muffled chuckling.

"Weiss…" Ruby put a hand on the heiress' shoulder, offering a sweet smile before continuing, "That's ridiculous. Ice cream comes from space."

"No, it doesn't! The dwarves made it." Spoken with all the innocence and confidence only a five-year-old could muster, Weiss held strong to her beliefs.

That was _also_ recorded.

"Actually, I thought it came from cows."

Ray watched and listened as the debate grew in members.

 _How was this even a serious discussion?_

The latest speaker was the monotone Faunus in disguise. This one Ray definitely recognised.

"Blake, cows make milk, not ice cream," the Faunus got shut down quickly by her younger superior.

Ray had every opportunity to step in and correct all of them. But mental illness as serious as this can lead to brash results if challenged.

You try telling a hysteric, dysphoric maniac that birds fly because they push air down beneath them and they'll accept it, tell them that the atoms that make up their entirety prevent them from touching anything, including their mothers, and they'll lose their goddamn mind.

"Yeah, sis is right. Cows can't make milk _and_ ice cream. But, then again, I heard ice cream came from a Schnee's-" the blonde one from the combat class, the one that punched holes through the one that started this mess, was very quickly silenced.

 _No, please continue._

"W-what Yang was trying to say, was that our uncle told us ice cream was _made_ , yeah, made by those of, uh, of the Schnee family."

 _Nice recovery._

Ray would have killed to see the look on the Schnee heiress' face had Yang finished her sentence.

Hell, he would have broadcast the footage nationally, across every scroll system in the world.

"Ruby, I can assure you, my family has no association to ice cream whatsoever. We are not dwarves, after all."

Recorded.

Each of them, save the red one, spoke with the utmost sincerity in their beliefs. It was comical, if not utterly humiliating.

Ray felt the second-hand embarrassment radiating from the other students in his vicinity.

Most of which were trying their hardest to distract themselves from the debate as best as they could.

Hiding behind their scrolls, attempting to make quiet, private conversations, and even staring at the front of the classroom in silence were some of the few methods they used.

Yang had begun to lose all composure, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes as she repressed her laughter poorly. At least _someone_ found this funny.

"I-I think we c-can all come to," the girl forced herself to inhale as she wiped her eye, still miserably failing to pull herself together, "an agreement that nobody knows where ice cream comes from."

Ray shook his head in disbelief. Idiots, all of them. Every last one of them.

Cream, milk, sugar, and eggs. Frozen and churned until ice crystals formed and the mixture is pasteurised and homogenized.

Though Ray _severely_ doubted any of them knew that at this point, each of the participating morons convinced that it was a naturally occurring resource.

He hated this class.

A small tugging on his right arm brought his attention to his partner, as she sat on the bench with a confused expression on her face.

"W-where _does_ ice cream come from?" she asked delicately, her eyebrows scrunched together as her head tried to filter fact from fiction.

Ray hesitated to give her an answer, knowing that whatever he said at this point, even the complete and unmitigated truth, would only add to her problems.

He placed his hand on top of her head and lightly ruffled her hair as he pitied the perplexed girl.

"As far as you should be concerned, your freezer."

"B-but I don't have a freezer…" the girl meekly replied, her gaze falling to the floor.

"I can assure you that it doesn't come from fucking space, that's for sure…" Ray muttered disdainfully, though more so to himself than his naive partner.

Saying literally anything related to this horseshit conversation would be succumbing to the idiocy of this class he was stuck in.

For the first time since he had arrived here, he was actually looking forward to whatever class this was.

That would be short-lived.

"Well, _I'm_ sticking with the space ball theory!" now it was the other conspirator's time to speak, her brown hair lagging behind her head as she suddenly crossed her arms and flashed a grin.

"You believe what you want to believe, just stop talking to the one next to you. He's more dangerous than you might think," Weiss finally returned to her original reason for speaking.

This earned a shrug from the other girl, Ray still had no idea what her name was.

"Doesn't really matter. We're all dangerous to different degrees, like you and your ice kabob and her with her melons."

She gestured toward Weiss and Yang respectively, maintaining her aggravatingly smug smirk.

"Was that a fucking joke?" Ray murmured to himself.

"I'm surprised you're still paying attention," Kyzal returned, arms crossed and resting against the back wall with his hood up and eyes closed.

That was a valid point…

"It's more of an ice pick really," Ruby commented to the side. Her neutrality in the situation beginning to falter.

"Call it what you will, but my Myrtenaster can still take a Grimm down faster than your scythe," the heiress was hellbent on defending her dignity, though her pride was already tainted the moment she mentioned dwarves.

Her partner wasn't going to back down so willingly as she flashed the condescending girl in white a challenging smirk, "I don't know about that. Speed is kinda my speciality."

The girl flashed with a trail of rose petals to position herself behind the heiress, whipping her long, white, dental floss hair with the sudden rush of air.

"Stop using your semblance so recreationally! It should be honed on the training grounds, not used to show off."

If she thought what Ruby did with her semblance was bad, she had yet to see what Ray did with his own…

"This _is_ how I hone my semblance, Weiss," the girl in red countered, flicking her partner's nose with a casual, playful demeanour before sitting down next to the Faunus. Her older sister also flocked to the black and white, sitting herself down on the other side.

Schnee then returned her focus back to the hyperactive, suicidal mental patient once more, offering the girl a slightly inquisitive gaze before asking a question.

"What's your name, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Skyla, but most people call me Sky," she replied, beaming a smile in her direction.

Ray couldn't care less about what she was called, he just prayed to every known deity that she _never_ garnered the incentive to speak to him. Ever.

He'd shoot her on sight.

"My name's Weiss. Just…" Ray witnessed her gaze stray toward Niro as he casually minded his own business, "Just be careful around him. He's… unpredictable."

 _Don't be so judgemental you dumb whore._

"I will," Skyla replied.

14 minutes had now passed.

The professor was still nowhere in sight.

And Ray was ready to leave.

The best part was, under the listed academic rules, if the professor failed to turn up within the next 60 fucking seconds - which was what he was desperately hoping for - he could leave, and _not_ be punished for it.

What a blessing.

Except… it wasn't.

Team Juniper burst into the room, quite literally diving and sliding across the floor as laboured breathing replaced the calm silence occupying the room not long before.

 _Oh, and it would seem that the professor herself has also graced us with her presence._

Ray's nose breathed in the _unmistakable_ strong scent of dark liquor lingering from the teacher's maw.

And you know what?

As if he wasn't pissed off already.

The fact that she could drink during school hours and he couldn't literally _infuriated_ _him._

That was only judging by the faint scowl on his face as he traced her well-built frame.

Ray didn't even want to describe what was going on inside his head…

She was of average height and possessed long dark blue hair, coinciding with a pair of cobalt eyes.

And, as was the trend this year, she wore a cowboy hat too.

"Oh splendid…" the boy muttered to himself as his eyes subconsciously flicked toward Gabriel and then back over to the one in black sitting on the other side of the room, "why am I not surprised?"

Originality was lacking in this hellhole.

And that was coming from the boy more suitably dressed as a civilian than a half-mechanical, biologically engineered superweapon.

The woman before Ray looked like she was in her twenties, not much older than Lylac if he had to make a comparison.

She wore tight-fitting black leather pants and black leather heeled boots that stretched up toward her mid-shins.

And to add the cherry to the cake of shit before him, she audaciously adorned a form-fitting tube top that would pass as inappropriate in a classroom setting was she anyone else.

Basically, to summarize her, she was an alcoholic whore roleplaying as a professor.

 _Ozpin sure knows how to pick his faculty members._

"Hello~"

Ray visibly cringed at the flirtatious inflection.

"My name is Professor Miralla, but I prefer you just call me by my first name."

Ray had no intention of doing such a thing. The morbid stench of alcohol and her filthy tone of voice distracted him too much…

"Now, as some of you may have known or heard by now," she paced over to her desk and leaned against its front for supporting her weight as she crossed her legs, "this class teaches you how to survive, track, and navigate your way through unfamiliar and dangerous territories. And, additionally, how to engage Grimm you've never encountered before."

This was a lie, this class would be the one Ray would be dropping in favour of more… _desirable_ activities.

"So," the professor clapped her hands to keep any straying attention on her as she scanned the classroom, "We're going on a little field trip. Leave your belongings, you won't need them."

The last thing Ray was going to do, was leave his stuff here. Especially his bag.

"Oh, and no stopping by your weapons lockers on the way, it's best you learn this lesson without weapons."

Ray immediately stood, knowing in full that he was going to disregard both of her instructions.

His weapons were already around his forearms, concealed by his sleeves, and his bag with all of his stuff was thrown over his shoulder.

He wasn't going to listen to this masquerading prostitute.

Caza fucking Miralla? What a damn joke.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **My absence is certainly justified, please don't worry about it.**

 **I'd like to thank OS Worldmakers and Xera Stark for proofreading this chapter. Thanks, guys.**

 **Ray hates a lot of things and makes such aggressive judgements based mostly on first impressions alone. In this instance; He _despises_ Skyla.**

 **I've also joined the scroll conversation bandwagon, totally not because it's easy to write or anything.**

 **Most definitely for expositional purposes…**

 **Anyway, sorry for the wait, however long it's been. I'll be uploading the next chapter eventually.**

 **On that note, for those that have forgotten or don't know, in order to understand what the hell is going on in this story, you need to read Rogue Huntsman by Xera Stark,** **and additionally, for another great story about the same plot, go and read Knights of White and Black by andy2396.**

 **I graciously hope you'd consider leaving a review, and if you do, please Favourite and Follow for more.**

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


	17. Chapter 17

**{Exhibitionism}**

The cliffside was once more lined with the same group of students I was with the last time I was here.

Only this time, we had an alcoholic educator here instead of two 'qualified' instructors.

Unsurprisingly, she had pulled me to one side and questioned me on my decision to ignore both of her instructions.

"I need these."

That was my simple response before I walked away. Though Caza looked like she couldn't care less anyway, just letting me catch up with my team.

Which left us here.

A couple of hundred feet higher than the ground below us, looking over the edge for some kind of B-roll shot or something.

"Now, I'm sure you all had landing strategies during initiation. But, of course, that was with your weapons and equipment," Caza's voice carried its way to the ears and souls of everyone around us, "Your first assignment of my class is to survive this fall but without any assistance from external mechanisms. You are only allowed to use your body and your aura; any violation of that rule will result in an immediate failure of the task at hand."

Aura?

She was asking us to put faith in ourselves and fall freely, only using the physical manifestation of our souls to break our fall.

Isn't this what you teach children, for God's sake?

Well, I guess we were children, I meant young ones, those that have been recently toilet trained.

Or was this unnatural?

I couldn't tell.

My eyes fell to the ground below us, my HUD displaying it as 257ft below.

Not enough to reach terminal velocity, but enough to gain some speed.

"Is anyone here feeling confident enough to give us a demonstration of what I expect of you?" Caza asked as I turned my attention to her eyes scanning each of us with a narrowed gaze.

Someone with the urge to show off would take the challenge headfirst, so I'll wait until then.

"Nobody?"

Caza almost looked surprised when no one came forward immediately.

Wasn't my problem.

"Mister Dante, would you care to be our demonstration?"

It was that guy again…

And his team of dominoes.

I watched with cold indifference as they exchanged glances, they all looked like someone 3D printed stickmen.

Where was the colour…?

Eventually, Mr Dante – I wasn't sure if that was the correct formality – acquiesced and stood at the edge of the cliff, staring down at the plateau beneath us.

"So then, nothing but body and aura?"

"That is correct," Caza confirmed, crossing her arms as she evaluated him.

I could see the drunken glaze in her blue eyes from here.

"Well, at this height, aura isn't exactly needed. Would it be breaking the rules to go without it?"

Get on with it, you take more time than your pet fox does.

His chin-length white hair fluttered in the passing current of wind and the tails of his white button-up coat did the exact same.

His coat was decorated with black trim – you know, to add some 'variety' to his blank canvas appearance – and yet it only slightly covered the grey jeans that lead down to his black running shoes.

Was he going to jump yet?

Don't make me be the first, please.

A few moments of hesitation passed and I finally pulled my hands out of my pockets, ready to take the leap for him.

All focus appeared to be on him now, and if that were the case, I had no problem jumping down myself if it meant the sheep weren't watching.

Given my unnatural weight, I didn't want people to question why I would end up sinking into the soil below.

Having metal grafted to your skeletal structure had its drawbacks after all.

It did mean I could survive the fall without Aura though.

But unlike this douchebag, I had no intention of painting myself as a pretentious asshole today.

That comes later.

"Without Aura? I won't allow you to potentially kill yourself, Mister Dante, if that's what you're asking for," Caza replied to his earlier question with a serious tone in her voice.

This prick had 30 seconds before I stole his first place…

"I don't mean to be rude, but I'm sure I can handle it. I know where my capabilities lie. Falls like this are nothing. I've done them several times in the past without aura, and several more at even greater heights," The boy listed his wonderful achievements like we were obligated to give a fuck.

If you're so fucking special, then why don't you demonstrate for us then?

We watched the little snowflake who could take a step back as he regarded the professor with a neutral glance.

"Very well, I expect you to be successful then," Caza gestured to the cliffside as her pet bird walked over and paused by the edge.

A living parachute, how quaint.

I was still waiting on Prince Charming to plummet to his death, finally contributing positively toward the class instead of talking shit.

He took yet another step back before walking forward and letting himself fall over the edge. I watched him as he made his descent and landed safely at the bottom, not long followed by his girlfriend and their two children.

"Took your time..." Kyzal muttered to my left as he dropped from the edge himself.

The whole class was moving forward now, actually getting somewhere instead of standing around with one finger stuck up their ass and another picking their nose.

Gabriel didn't take long to join his partner as Scarlet and myself stayed by the edge, watching as the other students all jumped down and cushioned their falls with their multicoloured assortment of auras.

"Shall we?" I asked as I turned to face my partner and leader.

Scarlet was alternating her gaze between the outcrop below us and the students each jumping down, chewing on her nails with a hint of nervousness in her eyes.

"I-is it safe?" she meekly asked, crimson eyes briefly meeting my own for a moment.

"Do they look dead to you?" I deadpanned, gesturing to the students at the bottom of the cliffside, standing around idle.

The tails of her armoured tunic swayed in the breeze, red hair fluttering as the wind swept through her radiant locks.

After a moment, she finally mustered the bravery to speak, "Y-you go first… I'll join you guys after…"

I raised an eyebrow, trying to determine the legitimacy of her words as she anxiously waited.

I sighed, shrugged my shoulders and took a single step toward the edge before my ears caught the aggravatingly sharp screech of a voice not yet tempered by the fires of puberty.

"U-uh, professor? I'd, uh, I'd like to take a pass on this assignment… if that's alright with you."

What the fuck was that?

My head snapped in the direction of the whining, finding my visage regrettably filled by a scrawny, tall, blonde kid looking not only out of place but terrified.

Scarlet must have heard it too, as I noticed she had also turned to face the boy in my peripheral vision.

"Mister Arc, backing out was not an option. You either jump and land on your own, or you jump and flail until Lanza catches you in his claws. The first step is always taking the leap," Caza was clearly having none of his attempt to weasel himself out of danger.

But if Jaune wasn't keen on getting hurt, why the hell was he here in the first place?

This was a combat school, after all, the professors here aren't going to hand you candy and plaster you in bubble wrap, moron.

"Fuck this, c'mon Scarlet…" I wasn't interested in Jaune's dilemma, this task was easy, and I'd see to it myself that my partner and I prove that to him.

I leaned out over the edge, letting gravity pull me as I pushed off at a 45-degree angle, giving me enough energy to perform a frontal somersault before dropping at around 60mph.

I landed, my additional weight compelling me to make use of my aura to absorb the impact of my fall and cushion myself as the ground beneath me failed to hold and I sunk into it by about 2 feet.

I pulled myself out of the hole I made, assisted by my other two teammates.

"Woah, you packing heat there, Ray?" Gabriel asked, flashing me a smug grin as he chewed contently on a toothpick he had found somewhere.

"No comment," I replied as I dusted my jeans off, dirt and blades of grass silently falling to the ground.

"Heads up," Kyzal warned, forcing us to all look up at the little red flailing girl falling toward us, all the while screaming at the top of her lungs.

"Should we do something?" Gabriel asked, slipping his hands into his pockets as he watched Scarlet fall.

"Probably…" Kyzal replied, his face partially concealed by the shadow cast by his hood.

I sighed, pulling out a lollipop from my bag, removing the wrapper and sticking it in my mouth as I walked forward.

I had calculated her landing trajectory, including the impact site, and was slowly making my way there.

[3 seconds]

I stopped right beneath my partner, held out my arms, and waited until the girl came screaming down with her eyes clamped shut.

And with less than half a second until she became a red smear, I caught her, carrying her light frame as she continued to scream.

"You can stop now," I mumbled with the candy in my mouth.

"Nice catch!" Gabriel called out from behind me as I turned around, listening as Scarlet's panicked wailing finally died down as I carried her to the other half of our team.

Gabriel taking the liberty of patting her lightly on the head, "And great landing, Red. Top marks."

That was just before the girl, now silent, opened her eyes and processed what position she was in as I held her, my right arm supporting her upper back as my left was underneath the back of her knees.

"Caza pushed you, didn't she?" I asked condescendingly, my eyebrow quirking as I felt the girl in my arms nod slightly, "Is that because you took your time?"

She nodded again.

Sighing, I put her down so she was standing up again, "You can tear seven Ursai apart but a little fall scares you?"

Scarlet's head dipped in a mix of embarrassment and shame.

Or something like that anyway.

"I-I'm not a fan of heights…" she muttered softly, turning her gaze to the floor.

I sighed in response, shaking my head in disapproval, "But Grimm are fine, yeah? You ought to reprioritize your fears."

"D-don't j-judge me…" Scarlet whimpered in retaliation as her cheeks glowed red.

I was hardly judging her, but she had a way of contradicting herself often.

An absolute demon when fighting Grimm, but hopelessly paranoid with everything else…

Speaking of Grimm, the class was quickly surrounded by the dark creatures of the night as soon as we touched the forest floor, as teams DICL, RWBY, and JNPR were all engaging in combat.

"Time to get to work," Gabriel spoke confidently as he picked up a stone and imbued it with his purple energy, throwing it at the nearest Beowulf, piercing through its hide like a bullet.

"Uh, Gabe?" Kyzal intervened worriedly, "I don't think we have time for that…"

My eyes followed Kyzal's pointed finger, leading it straight toward the black asteroid hurtling toward the ground at speeds faster than terminal velocity.

It was safe to say I knew there and then why people didn't trust Niro Ezdeil.

The entire forest floor was in ruins when he made contact with it. Earth shattering force tends to do that.

The ground ruptured beneath our feet, forming cracks in Remnant's crust my sensors detected were up to tens of meters deep.

More than enough for a mass grave.

Seems that he didn't intend to kill anyone in the class though.

The rifts in the soil shot right past us and the Grimm lurking behind every tree, bush and blade of grass was swallowed, if not completely obliterated by the shockwave that followed…

The forest was devastated in a split second, along with any non-humanoid creature with it.

What the hell was he?

It wasn't even the case of who he was anymore.

Niro was something else.

No one that age should have that kind of power.

No one human, at least.

* * *

Freedom came at a cost.

In my case, it was completing the menial homework we had within five minutes of returning to our dorm, bidding my team a farewell, and hitching a ride to Vale.

Thank fuck it's over…

I was heading toward the North-West region of the city. The rendezvous location Ly having given me being an open restaurant and bar.

I was more interested in the latter.

I took a seat on a cushioned stool on the bar side's open veranda, analysing the scenery.

The veranda was covering a stain oak decking, littered with comfortable, lounge outside furniture from couches to deck chairs for customers to enjoy themselves, kick their feet back, and drink money.

Not like there was much else to do in this kingdom, other than cowering behind walls and pretending the outside world doesn't exist.

Humans and Faunus really were pathetic, wrapping themselves up in bubble wrap, putting ear defenders on, and clamping their eyes shut, oblivious to the world outside of the daunting walls that protected them.

Their sad little reality is that so long as they stayed inside of the cage they built around themselves, they'd live.

I couldn't rationalize that way of life.

Without fear, life has no meaning, without exploration, you'll never discover new things.

Those that resided in kingdoms didn't care for the giant bubble they were in.

They chose to sacrifice their liberty for security, their curiosity for ignorance.

This wasn't living, this was surviving.

Enduring.

Persisting.

Twinkling little lights decorated the trim of the veranda I was sat under, tilting my stool to lean against the wooden railing that paired nicely with the little garden out the back.

On the ceiling of the terrace was a multi-coloured assortment of mood lights, illuminating the decking with their non-invasive glow.

As my eyes continued familiarising myself with my environment, I noticed some flowerbeds sat by the three double doors that lead inside the bar - each stocked with more than enough flowers for people to idly stare at, if you were into that sort of thing - and all three of the doors were wide open to allow for fresh air circulation.

It was a surprisingly pleasant establishment, given what I could see on the outside. I knew for a fact that Ly had picked a good spot to meet.

This whole region of Vale was nicer than the rest, but what can you expect from the Upper-Class district?

This entire province was built with tourism in mind, those that built it was apparently desperate for the Lien it attracted.

Unsurprisingly, it also had a higher police concentration, given the wealth to be had here.

The wealth that was crying out to be taken, or so my cousin would say.

The police force had seriously upped their game in the recent years, stamping out crime when and where they could.

For all the good that would do them though.

Their increased efforts meant nothing to Ly, whose net worth consisted almost entirely of stolen treasures.

Her looks, the way she dressed, the way she held herself, and her exceptional ability to deceive others.

All of it met in the middle to make her a world-class thief.

She was damn good at her job, made it look laughably easy.

Her reputation was a formidable asset to her.

People hired her on name alone, assuming she even gave it to them.

Lylac was quite literally a ghost.

And with that in mind, slipping into a place like this, blending in with the locals, and concealing her true profession was nothing but child's play to her.

Which is what allowed her to walk with composure out of the bar carrying drinks in both hands and discretely stealing a wallet off of a table as she passed it without anyone suspecting a thing.

As far as anyone was concerned, an attractive young woman just left the bar to relax for the evening.

"Showing off again?" I asked contemptuously as she took the stool opposite me and gently placed the drinks on the table.

"I told you I was going to make this stay worth it," she replied flashing a little smirk, "it's only natural for me to take a big, fat wallet left all alone on a table. It was begging me, really Crying out for my graceful self to plunder inside and secure the bountiful riches insi- 300 Lien? Are you kidding me?"

I rolled my eyes and took a sip of the spirit in front of me as my cousin discontentedly poked around further inside the faux leather wallet.

Vodka, cola, and ice, a typically cheap social drink.

"Unbelievable…"

"They sure as hell serve some factory-processed crap here…" I murmured as I begrudgingly swallowed it, drawing my cousin's attention from her most recent distraction.

Ly smiled as she daintily sipped her own drink, setting the wallet on the table, despite the previous owner being less than 12 feet from us, "True, but not all of the bars are this bad though. I know one or two that are semi-decent, and there's one that I've been dying to take you to for a little while now. I think you'll like it."

I shrugged my shoulders with ersatz interest as I slipped my scroll of out my pocket and placed it on the table between us.

"So, you going to tell me where this safehouse is at some point?" I asked lightly.

Ly casually curled a lock of lilac-tipped blonde hair around her delicate index finger, her other hand tipping her glass, watching with mild interest as the dark fluid inside swirled around it, "I will… Once you've told me how your day was," her opalescent pink eyes quickly met mine as her lips curled into a challenging smirk.

"Terrible."

I immediately plunged straight into the negativity, "Just about everything inside that academy is worse than I expected, their Huntsmen training program is mediocre and those that attend it are fucking brain-dead."

"Sounds pleasant, I'm so envious of you," my cousin mockingly teased me as she continued to innocently curl her hair around her finger.

There was absolutely nothing innocent about her.

"Additionally, the others in the same year as I are all far dumber than I thought or hoped they would be," I was ranting now, nothing out of the ordinary…

"I don't know what I was expecting, they're all moronic, hyperactive, trigger-happy swine that want to do nothing but go out and murder Grimm instead of learning tactics, rules of engagement, and the most basic of protocols."

"Well, not everyone can be as privileged as you, Ray. You were trained by your father, who was, without a doubt, one hell of a Huntsman."

I paused to drink some of my vodka, ignoring the watered-down taste in favour of resuming my rant.

"Yeah… well… I have no idea how I'm going to get that last piece to his sword and there's a fucking Affinity user running around with an aptitude for destruction."

Ly's attention doubled the moment I mentioned that.

"Affinity user?" she asked evenly, leaning forward a fraction, "What element?"

"Fire."

My straight reply intrigued my cousin as she nodded her head a little and switched her regard from my eyes to the garden.

"Is that user the only one you've come across, or are there any others?" she asked, her eyes soon meeting mine again.

"Your guess is as good as mine, I don't know who possesses the fragment, but they sure as hell know how to use it," I replied in a low tone, once more drinking my vodka, "and that concerns me."

"I can imagine so, I know very well how much you love their kind."

I rolled my eyes and scoffed, "Oh yeah, we get on like a house on fire. I adore them, they're all fantastic people…"

My hands were thrown into the air as I expressed my grief.

God, I hated those assholes.

Ly shifted her body as her left leg crossed over her right, "You can quit with the sarcasm, Ray. I know you detest them."

Her right hand left her hair as she propped her head on it, elbow resting on the table for support.

"Have you tried scanning for them, so you know who it is you need to avoid?"

"It's a Fire Affinity, Lylac. The extra heat their body produces would interfere with my equipment."

She smiled, "Then all you need to do is point Darkstar at people, scan, and look for the interference, easy. Don't make things more complicated than they need to be."

I sighed in contempt, "You don't need to tell me that, I'm just pointing out the fact that in a group of people, it'd be hard to scan and determine which one possesses the fragment, even if I do detect the interference."

"Then you rule out selective scanning and begin to examine body language, see who holds themselves in a higher regard than the rest, if you're forced into a game of elimination, then play it." Ly's smiled lightly at me, speaking delicately as if she was taming a caged lion.

I've always hated that…

"You'll get your answers eventually. Fire tends to be the brightest and most dangerous of all the elements," Ly explained carefully, calm and composed as always, "Look for anyone with those traits, and I'm sure you'll find them rather quickly."

Was she encouraging me to find them, or just telling me how?

Ly rarely held ulterior motives, but as a naturally deceptive girl, she was good at hiding them.

I've seen her play some very intelligent men like cheap fiddles, using her looks and their inner desires to get exactly what she wants, then leaving them blind and moneyless.

The irony?

She was the furthest thing from heterosexual.

Which meant she was equally as effective with her female victims. Probably enjoyed it more too.

Her orientation was her business though, not going to say that I won't judge her for it, but as the only close relative I have, it was my obligation to make sure she wasn't putting herself in danger.

She could frolic with whoever she wanted as far as I was concerned.

It was something she despised, that I knew, but I would bet money that she appreciated being looked after.

"Why are you telling me how to find them when I only intend to avoid their existence?" I asked with the quirk of my eyebrow.

Ly smiled, "It's only natural to help out my baby cousin when he's struggling, can you blame me for that? You're basically my brother after all."

She flashed that condescending grin she knew irritated me as her lips clasped around the rim of her glass and she took a sip, still smiling smugly as her eyes not once left mine.

"Ly, you struggle to open jars of pickles," I retorted, rolling my eyes.

She placed her drink down on the table and frowned, "That's because my hands don't have a vice-like grip."

"I think it's because you're weak, or lazy."

Her frown deepened, though I could tell she wasn't upset, "Really? Do you want to bring laziness into it? Tell me Ray, which one of us chose to spend three weeks in Mistral doing nothing but drinking and gambling in quite possibly the worst establishments they could possibly find - while the other searched relentlessly for any clue on Avramosis' last part?"

It was my turn to smirk this time, "When we left Sukariko to meet up with your contact in Mistral, you told me to take things easy. So, I did just that."

The young woman groaned as she rubbed her forehead, "That's… I actually hate your ability to selectively cherry-pick responses, you know that?"

"I appreciate your honesty, Lylac, shows how much you respect me."

"Duly noted," Ly responded sarcastically as she checked a gold-plated pocket watch she pulled from the breast pocket on her coat, "We should head for the safe house soon, these drinks are disgusting, and I have better stuff there."

I downed whatever was left of my drink and watched as Ly took hers into her hand and did the same.

"And here I thought we'd never leave."

I picked up the blue scroll I had left on the table and slipped it into my pocket, "Is there a bill we have to pay, or did you pay at the bar?"

Ly hopped off of her stool and flashed a cheeky smile, "Who said we're paying? Let's go before they realise that the blonde girl that walked behind the bar and poured herself two drinks doesn't actually work here."

I sighed, "Rein that kleptomania in before you get yourself into trouble…"

"Oh, I'm long since past the point of trouble…"

"What else have you done?" I questioned with narrowed eyes, which met with her wide, shit-eating grin.

"I poured some drinks for the patrons here," she answered nonchalantly, her simper stretching from ear-to-ear, "they were 'on the house'…"

I immediately pinched the bridge of my nose at her response, "For the love of… why?"

We left the restaurant via the garden, opening a wooden gate onto the high street, the verbal cursing of someone realising they misplaced their wallet and the bartender's aggressive use of expletives over stolen drinks filtering out from behind us.

Ly's head turned toward the commotion with that mischievous light glistening in her amused rose-gold eyes, "Sharing is caring."

We were trouble, my cousin and I, but I doubt that either of us would have it any other way.

* * *

"This is where you set up shop?"

This place was far from what I was expecting in a safe house.

A large, illuminated hotel stood before me and my vertically challenged cousin.

Its exterior was decorated with fauna of all varieties, mainly shrubbery and flowers flanking the lit stone pathway the led straight toward the lobby via immaculately clean glass doors.

"This place? Really?"

Ly giggled as she dragged me toward the entrance by my wrist, "I think it's really nice, c'mon."

"47 and a half million Lien, Ly… What did you do? Buy the whole fucking hotel?"

She dragged my ass toward the front desk, currently being manned by a girl that looked to be about 18 years of age. Her straightened, flowing, brunette hair reaching just her upper back as she tirelessly hammered away at her holographic keyboard.

"Good afternoon, I'd like to introduce you to my cousin."

Ly was far better with pleasantries than I was, and to make matters worse, she was excited.

Now, a normal Lylac was someone that most others could get along and converse with.

But an excited Lylac actively approached anything with a pulse, donning a huge, warm smile on her face as she was ready to make sure the aforementioned individual dropped whatever they were doing to donate their undivided attention to Ly's cause.

In this case, she was just saying hello…

"Oh, hello Miss Chroma," the girl's chocolate eyes left her terminal, met Ly's gaze and the moment they connected, the attendant's cheeks reddened slightly.

"Hey sweetheart, this is my cousin Ray, I'm having him over so could you tell any potential intruders to not bother us?" Ly was sweetening this girl up, I could tell.

Didn't look like she had any significant incentive to follow through with any of that though, not on a long-term basis, at least.

Probably her way of getting away with inappropriate behaviour.

Crafty little menace, this one.

"S-sure thing, shall I mark you down as unlisted?" the counter clerk stuttered in response.

Ly nodded, still giving her a sickeningly sweet smile, "That would be lovely, thank you."

She was exaggerating her syllables, protruding her will through her speech with a well-practised gesture.

Her fingers curled as she waved the girl goodbye as she hauled me toward the golden elevator doors on our left.

That gullible girl was leaking lust from her legs.

You're such a manipulative nuisance, Ly…

When the elevator doors opened, a carpeted corridor was revealed on the other side. Hanging lights were mounted on the wall in an even interval, illuminating the hallway adequately as Ly escorted me to the wooden door at the end.

"Here we are!" the girl chirped, swiping a golden key card inside the digital lock.

"You know that can be easily hacked right?" I asked, eyeing her scornfully, "Not much of a safehouse if someone can break in just be replicating an 8-digit NFC code."

"Oh, shut up, you nerd," Ly replied as she beckoned me to enter.

This place was big, not just for an apartment, but for a habitable place, this penthouse she had bought was almost excessive.

"Home, sweet home!"

I entered the penthouse slowly, taking everything in.

To my immediate left was a walk-in cupboard for storing shoes, coats and other outdoor clothing alongside containing the relevant laundry equipment.

Of course, Ly told me to wipe my feet and take my sneakers off…

After ridding myself of footwear I walked into the expansive living area, where to my left sat the kitchen.

It had all the appliances required to cook a decent meal; stovetop, oven, microwave, food processor, blender etc.

You name it, it was there.

The whole apartment was painted in a contrasting black and white, with a stained wooden flooring to match.

"Kinda blank, isn't it?" I asked as I entered the main living space.

Space was definitely fitting, I could practically go for a jog around it.

"Well, duh, I haven't decorated it yet." My cousin's eye rolled their sockets as she passed me, heading toward the kitchen.

"Yeah…" I mumbled as I spotted the literal stack of gold bars in the far-right corner, right beside the glass wall that led to an outside balcony.

Curious, I walked toward the glass wall, passing a mahogany dining table before pulling back the curtain to witness the sun's golden rays painting a canvas of pink and blue across the evening sky.

It was coincidentally similar to Ly's eyes.

Fitting.

"Here," I heard the clinking of ice cubes against glass emanate from behind me as I turned to face my cousin holding a glass of acolyte.

"Thanks."

I took the glass in my hand and took a sip of the liquid inside, the bittersweet fiery taste stinging the back of my throat as I took a chair out from under the table and sat down.

Ly sighed in content as she took the one opposite from me and sipped her own drink, "This is much better."

The distinctive honeyed aftertaste of my amber drink absently reminded me to take another sip.

I could already feel the effects of the absurd alcohol content, this was some really strong liquor.

Kudos to the unknown soul who made the recipe.

Getting rich off of intoxicating huntsmen.

Genius really.

I turned my head to face the wall of glass beside me once more, but my eye caught onto something that intrigued me.

"Ly…" I began, trying to format the words inside my head, "why are their crates of fruit on your balcony?"

My cousin almost choked on her drink as soon as I asked that, her cheeks flushing a bright red as she tried to catch her breath.

"I uh- well, you see… uh…"

My eyes narrowed, she was hiding something.

The girl cleared her throat before donning a serious expression.

"I was making uh… fruit salad."

That was vague and completely unconvincing.

"Where's the salad then?"

"In the fridge." That response fired from her mouth as she cleared her throat again.

"In the fridge with the other uh… desserts I've been making."

My eyes narrowed even further, "Enlighten me on these other desserts, Ly."

"Oh, y'know… nice desserts… for eating…"

Do I smell bullshit?

"Like ice cream?" I questioned, raising my eyebrow.

"Yeah! Yes, ice cream and- "

That was bullshit alright.

"You don't store ice cream in the refrigerator, Lylac, you're hiding something."

She suddenly went very quiet after my response.

I recorded the past 2 minutes for reference as I sipped some of my drink before setting it on the table between us and leaning against it.

"So, you want to tell me why you're wasting your talents on groceries?"

Ly's cheeks were suddenly very heated.

I had a feeling she was trying to garner someone's attention.

But as for who the hell wanted to know about 19 crates of fruit being stolen, I had nothing.

Was she trying to impress someone?

"I-it's nothing, don't worry about it, I was going to donate the fruit to the orphanage anyway," Ly mumbled as she hid her mouth behind her glass of acolyte, "they need the food more than I do."

"I bet, but there are other ways of giving to the needy, that don't involve stealing 7 crates of apples."

It was odd… seeing her getting flustered over something she'd been doing for years.

And I couldn't figure out for the life of me why the hell she chose to steal fruit…

I hoped it was fruitful though.

Pun not intended.

* * *

 **Author's note:**

 **Since my PC has taken what seems to be the equivalent of a dirt nap, for the time being, one that I'm unable to diagnose, I'm currently passing the time by writing.**

 **Not going to say that you should expect a more stable upload schedule, there are other ways to procrastinate after all, but I should hopefully be writing a bit more often.**

 **Those that are up to date with Rogue Huntsman know where this chapter is going, expect something fruity with Ly soon.**

 **On that note, for those that have forgotten or don't know,** on **order to understand what the hell is going on in this story, you need to read Rogue Huntsman by Xera Stark, and additionally, for another great story coinciding with them both, go and read Knights of White and Black by andy2396**

 **I graciously hope you'd consider leaving a Review, and if you do, please Favourite and Follow.**

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


	18. Chapter 18

**{Protection}**

My decision to drink with my cousin the night before a school day was a bad idea…

For someone that gave a fuck.

Lylac could talk for hours on end, switch topics on the fly like a music player on shuffle.

Alcohol facilitated this spontaneous behaviour tenfold.

In the end, it only took four hours for her to talk herself into exhaustion and eventually passing out on the mahogany table, mouth ajar and drooling onto its hardwood surface.

Not exactly graceful, but Ly was no aristocrat.

That pretty face of hers was her _only_ asset, and to avoid her messing it up in her sleep, I tried to relieve her of her clothing and carried her to her room.

The black silken sheets shimmered under the moonlight filtering through her matching curtains that lightly billowed in the breeze.

I _carefully_ laid her down, the girl only in her underwear and white t-shirt, then tugged her quilt out from her resting form and tucking her in.

After struggling to put her to bed, given my own intoxication, I decided that 11pm was a good time to leave.

And with my sense of balance all but destroyed, it was a miracle I even managed to make it out of her bedroom.

So, after locking up her apartment, sweeping the entire complex for bugs in the process, I, in my infinite wisdom, walked to the balcony and took the express elevator down.

The crates of fruit were never explained in the end.

After hitting the ground at terminal velocity, rupturing the pavement beneath my feet, I picked myself up and slowly made my way down the high street.

The night was still young, after all, and I had some _things_ I needed to do while I was in Vale.

Thankfully, no one would recognise me.

It'd been a while since we were on the news, we were both high-profile missing persons for a while after we ran away.

This was made obvious by the media requesting help from the public with posters and messages in broadcasts.

We were practically the victims of a witch hunt for the reward that was offered.

Fancy that, huh? 250,000 lien for the safe capture of two children.

However, time turned out to be our ally, gradually allowing us both to disappear into obscurity.

From the public, that was.

The Information Networks?

They never forget…

A real pain in the ass silencing their spies and hooded associates.

If any of them were to catch you, you were done for.

Your identity, intentions, and anything else you wished to remain secret would practically be public knowledge.

Which is why any that encountered myself or my cousin often mysteriously suffered a happy little accident.

It wasn't too far outside the realm of possibilities for one spy to disappear for months on end.

But when several in the same location go without warning or clear explanation, it tends to _really_ rile up the hornet's nest.

That can get annoying when you have things to do…

"Hey! Stop!"

A female voice pleaded to my left. Filling up my auditory senses from the darkened alley on my flank.

Even garnered the slightest of twitches from beneath my beanie…

"It's okay baby, we're not gonna hurt ya," a second, deeper voice resonated out into the high street, "we just wanna have some fun, that's all."

The latter half of his statement was followed by a nefarious low chuckle and in that moment, I knew something bad was stirring.

I stopped walking, straining my hearing and switching my focus to the alley.

My eyes peered down the pitch-black opening, but no one was there.

They must've been deeper.

My mind was in a disorganised state, with alcohol being the culprit.

Given my… _nature_ … the controlled substance only affected one half of my mind.

The biological side taking it in and having itself a whale of a time in its complete and total disarray.

I was fucked up, there was no doubt about that.

If there was a girl in trouble, who's to say she'd be any safer in _my_ care?

 _Then again…_

There was always the machine too.

It's unique operating procedures allowed me to drink like a fish and keep going.

Acting as if nothing was wrong whatsoever.

In fact, that was the _only_ part of my brain that honestly _benefitted_ from drinking.

One little modification of mine allowing it to burn the alcohol in my bloodstream and use it like a fuel.

Actively generating electrical energy like a mini bioreactor.

It was also _very_ hostile…

Particularly in fights.

Fights I intend to win, anyway.

I never felt the need to be merciful, nor compassionate toward anyone that stands against me.

They chose to piss me off, so the consequences were on their head, not mine.

I'm just doing my job.

Which left me standing in the middle of a near-barren street in Vale, vacantly staring down an alley, wondering whether I should intervene with the crime about to be committed.

I was at a metaphorical T-junction, split between two potential actions.

All because I wasn't sure if I could help her and myself at the same time…

"Please! Someone he-" the girl cried out once more, a caution flashing across my enhanced vision.

And yet, I still stood there, idling…

Her plea was muffled at the end, silenced by something covering her mouth. It was the perpetrators' method of keeping their deeds hidden.

Idiots… if she lives, she'll _never_ forget this.

Which meant that to truly keep hidden, they'd have to take her life too. Let alone her dignity and self-worth. All to prevent her from testifying against them in a court of law.

That made me angry.

Rape was an unforgivable crime.

And after it nearly happened to Ly…

What I did to those men back then was nothing short of a _mercy_ compared to what I should've done.

Death is an escape, not a punishment.

I would know, I've very nearly crossed that line before.

I took very slow steps toward the alley, acquiring a metal pipe leaning against the nondescript brick wall to my right.

My eyes dead focused on the path in front of me.

I wasn't going to kill these men, not if I could help it at least, but I was going to make sure that this behaviour is not tolerated in this town.

I've always hated bullies.

* * *

Scarlet sighed for the 26th time in the past thirty minutes.

She was laying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, throwing a 14mm shell from Crimson Brigade into the air and catching it as she impatiently awaited Ray's return.

Once again, she tossed her head to the side to read the time on her alarm clock.

11:49pm.

He should've been back by now…

Frowning, she turned her gaze to the ceiling and continued playing catch.

"Y'know, you keep that up and you're gonna end up dropping that shell on your nose."

RGDS' leader sighed again.

"Ray said he'd be back later!" the girl bemoaned, " _Now_ is later!"

Gabriel chuckled, "True, but later is a very vague answer."

Scarlet caught her highly explosive round in her hand as she turned to face him with a deadpan glare.

"You _think_?"

The gambler met her disapproving glance with a cheeky grin.

"In Ray's defence, he practically gave us all the answers to our homework, _including_ yours," Kyzal illegibly interjected from the bathroom as he brushed his teeth, "and your homework was leader-orientated, so I think we can cut him some slack."

Scarlet sighed again.

This one was noticeably more agitated than the others.

"I just don't understand why he's been gone for so long, what could he be doing that demands his attention that bad?!"

"Seeing his cousin, maybe?" Gabriel replied, shrugging one shoulder, "They seem pretty close from the things he's told me. Limited as they may be…"

" _Honestly?_ " Kyzal supplied as he entered the main dorm area, "I'm just glad I didn't have to put that much effort into the homework, so if Ray has no trouble giving us the answers, he can stay out for as long as he wants."

"Ditto."

" _Ugh,_ " Scarlet groaned as she grabbed her pillow and buried her face in it, "he better be back before midnight, we have classes tomorrow."

Gabriel hung his tan cowboy hat on the bedpost by his headboard as he humbly chuckled to himself, "And I'm sure he will be, we should get some sleep though, you're right about those classes."

Scarlet frowned even with her face buried, but reluctantly agreed with her teammate, getting up and heading toward the light switch.

With a sigh, she turned the light off, "Night, guys."

"Night."

* * *

I'm not a hero. That's a job for someone else.

I'm a weapon without a target.

An army without a nation.

And a thorn in the side of anyone harbouring power.

I could've left that girl to suffer, carried on with my life knowing in full that I could've saved her, but never did.

That's not something that I wanted on my conscious though.

I already had enough on my plate.

Those men, back in that alley, they were easy prey. Break a few fingers, dislocate a shoulder, and they were running as fast as they could before they even had the chance to process their injuries.

I walked out of that alley with a terrified young woman, bloodstained hands, and an unwieldly desire for more acolyte.

She wanted to thank me, even in her state of shock.

I was only doing my job.

I'm not a hero, I'm a bully.

Except my victims also happened to be the _exact same thing._

I refused to get rewarded by her and her mother who had come running to find her.

Don't give me more credit than I deserve.

It wasn't long before I parted ways with them, never to see them again.

Three men tried to assault that girl, only two successfully escaped.

The bludgeoned corpse of the third was starting to decompose in the dumpster behind a bakery.

Marigold, I think it was called.

 _The name seemed vaguely familiar._

For the record, I didn't _mean_ to kill that man, but his head got in the way of my pipe. Hardly my fault.

I was aiming for his chest.

Idiot shouldn't have ducked.

I'll probably clean it up later, didn't have anything better to do anyway.

Not like anyone would miss him either.

Just another night in this piece of shit kingdom.

So, I just kept walking back to Beacon.

Transport ran to and from the academy all hours of the day, save the weekends, so I wasn't worried about finding my way back.

I just had to wait for my flight.

When I checked my scroll, I had 32 unread messages and 14 missed calls, all from Scarlet. She was a big girl, she didn't need me there _all_ the time.

I'd probably get a mouthful when I got back, but I didn't care.

Fuck that place.

I was actually jealous of the idiot lying dead in the dumpster, his position was a preferable alternative to being named a Beacon Student.

That title was an insult. No comprehensible words could describe my undeniable hatred of Huntsmen.

Only incoherent primal grunts.

Which was exactly the sound I made when the pilot dropped me off at Beacon's entrance.

 _Dick._

Telling me to take it easy, like he had any fucking clue.

He sits in the same seat all day ferrying idiots to and from the same goddamn destination, what the hell does he know about taking things easy?

He was also a student too, taking this part-time job as part of his mandatory 3rd-year pilot training.

Fortunately, I wasn't worried about his ordeals.

I had my own problems to worry about.

Like going the fuck to sleep.

Making my way to the dorms was as easy as following the arrow on my HUD, made much easier due to being able to see in the dark hallways leading to my room.

When I entered the door though, it seems my already fleeting sense of balance malfunctioned, forcing my dumb ass to stumble once the door was unlocked.

Was I really leaning into it that much?

The room was silent and pitch black when I entered, save the dim lights on the three charging scrolls located on the tables beside the peacefully sleeping forms of Scarlet, Gabriel, and Kyzal.

I kicked my shoes off and left them by the foot of my bed as I haphazardly shouldered my jacket and messenger bag off.

Then gracefully throwing myself onto my bed as my arms embraced the soft pillow I buried my head into, closing my tired eyes and taking a sigh of relief.

Tomorrow was an easy day, just the same crap we did today but with slight variation.

What could _possibly_ go wrong?

* * *

Blaring, blood-boiling alarms and the sounds of agitated screaming and shouting brought me out of my comatose state.

Wonderful, seems my team is awake.

"Ray! Where have you been?!"

That was Scarlet playing the distressed mother figure again. Big surprise.

"We couldn't get a hold of you _all night!_ "

I stayed silent, trying to bury my head into my pillow even further to drown her out.

"Ray! Get _up!_ We have classes in half an hour!" I felt the girl shake me by the shoulders as she berated me.

 _Don't you have anything better to do?_

The hangover was stronger than I thought it would be. I had hoped that beating those assholes with a metal pole would burn off the alcohol in my system, but apparently, I didn't put enough effort in.

Slowly – _painfully_ \- I pushed myself into an upright position, sitting on my bed as I tried to wipe the sleep from my eyes.

A small, amused chuckle emanated from the other side of the room, gradually growing into a laugh as I finally blinked my eyes open.

"Looks like _someone_ had a rough night," Gabriel stated with a stupid grin on his face.

Scarlet was storming left and right in the dorm room with her arms crossed as she gave me an expectant glower through the corner of her crimson eyes.

 _Stop trying to be intimidating. It's not a look that suits you._

I pushed my legs down the side of my bed and yawned, running a hand down my face for a moment before struggling to my feet.

"Rise and shine, got a fresh day ahead of us," the gambler said, flashing a coy smile as he straightened his uniform tie.

" _Fantastic."_ I adjusted the beanie on my head before silently walking to the bathroom.

Interacting with them in this condition would piss me off. The thought of making _eye contact_ pissed me off, let alone striking conversation.

When I pushed my way inside the bathroom, I locked the door behind me, immediately making my way to the sink and turning the faucets on.

I let the sink fill to the brim before cupping my hands together and splashing my face with the warm water before rubbing my face and flicking my hands back down toward the sink as I grabbed a towel.

I quickly dabbed and wiped my face dry before hanging it back on the rack.

"I'm not cut out for this shit…" I muttered under my breath as I pushed myself away from the sink. Tucking my dishevelled hair back inside my beanie before sauntering back into the main room.

"Ray! You need to get ready, your uniform is on your bed!" Scarlet was determined to make the obvious just that little bit clearer to me.

I have eyes, you red dwarf.

I can see that.

* * *

Lunch.

After the first couple lessons, this brief period of downtime was the perfect excuse to drowsily eat and gaze into my scroll like it was made of gold.

For the record, I did modify it to use gold-plated connections to improve conductivity, but only because I could afford it.

It helped having a master thief as a guardian sometimes.

 _Hell…_ if it wasn't for Lylac's kleptomania, I'd still be in an abandoned building tinkering with broken, semi-functional scrap parts.

I owe a lot to that girl.

My thumb flicked across my scroll's screen as I idly sipped a fruit smoothie through a bendy straw, partially hunched over the benches in the cafeteria like a golem.

Scarlet was sat next to me, amazingly mustering up the courage to speak to a stranger.

Ruby, I think her name was.

They were discussing weapons or something, the red girl- Sorry, the _hooded_ red girl gushing incredulously over the pointy, glorified, weaponised pitchfork my partner used.

Not like I was much better though… I just used projectors and a rare, unstable energy.

For now, at least.

I have bigger toys at home.

It wasn't long before Ruby left us to our own devices, awkwardly saying goodbye to Scarlet, before apprehensively waving me off.

I ignored her. The news article on my scroll was far more interesting.

Scarlet huffed out a tightly held breath as she turned back to her plate of fries. Daintily plucking one out from the pile on her plate and dipping it into ketchup before nibbling the end.

She suddenly froze in her place for a moment before quickly snapping her gaze up toward the large glass window in front of us.

"Hey Ray?" the girl hesitantly murmured to me as she stared concernedly at my face. I could see in my peripherals that the expression she donned was somewhat… disconcerting.

I hummed in response as I kept my eyes on my scroll, casually reading through the news as the girl nudged my shoulder.

"Do you ever… get the feeling that…" she paused for a moment as I momentarily turned to meet her uncertain gaze. "Something bad is about to happen…?"

 _Did_ I feel that?

All the time.

The encroaching threat of an overwhelming, menacing force slowly clawing at the defensive barriers of our civilisation. Killing off any brave soul that swore an oath to drive it back.

Yeah, I felt it.

I'd felt it ever since I was eleven.

I gave the girl a nod as I returned to face my scroll again, intent on reading the rest of the text displayed.

"It wouldn't make sense if I didn't. Auras do it to protect us."

The girl quietly bit her bottom lip as she turned back to her plate of fries. Her appetite clearly not as strong as it was when she ordered them.

"I… _know that_ but… do you ever, like…" She paused again, letting her crimson eyes dart to the window before turning their gaze to me. "Feel a _really_ strong sense of danger right before it's about to happen? Even if you're in a place where you know nothing can hurt you…?"

Her words piqued my curiosity, the infectious worrying state they brought me forcing me to tear my gaze away from my handheld device again.

"Not that I can think of…"

I stared at her for a long, tense moment before she tore her gaze away from mine and back to the window.

I quirked an eyebrow at her, curious to what reason she had to ask this question.

"Scarlet. Do you feel this sensation now?"

Her expression answered my question immediately.

She kept her eyes averted from mine, but I could sense the faintest hint of fear exuding from her skin as she bit her lip anxiously.

I could practically taste it from where I sat…

"Are you sure you're not imagining things?" I asked slowly, peering at her grave countenance as her gaze wavered between her plate of fries and the delicate hands grasping at the edge of the bench.

Her position stayed the same until she silently nodded to my question.

The sigh leaving my slightly parted lips was laced with a flicker of hesitation as I watched the girl stare at her food with a pensive gaze.

She muttered something under her breath that I didn't catch, and a few extra moments passed before she flinched, her hand snapping to her forehead, massaging it like she was working a headache away.

"Scarlet…?" I asked slowly, a frown forming on my face as she clenched her eyes.

"S-Something's wrong…" she stuttered more forcefully, pushing herself away from the table and standing.

Her crimson eyes remained closed as her breathing started to deepen. The girl's lungs inhaling before releasing a heavy, ragged breath.

My first instinct was to try to get her to snap out of it, but out of curiosity I waited.

Waited to see where this went.

Even _if_ my foresight was telling me that I was about to be dragged into something I wasn't going to like.

Before I had any time to react, I felt her grasp the collar of my jacket aggressively.

Angry red eyes clashing with my own as my partner and leader bore into what felt like my very soul…

I'd seen those eyes before… especially the barely noticeable glow deep within their crimson glare.

"Something's wrong. We need to go."

In my stupor, I didn't have a response on hand. Not that Scarlet would give me the chance to formulate one as she effortlessly tore me out of my seat, giving me a whopping split second to grab my messenger bag before she hauled my ass down the nearly empty cafeteria.

Oh wonderful, and it would seem Niro Ezdeil felt like regarding us as the soles of my canvas shoes screeched along the polished floor and down the hall.

In my limited experience, I'd gathered that Scarlet was only assertive in times of particular need.

And if this was the case, she was almost _definitely_ dragging me toward something bad…

* * *

"Do you think we should do something?"

That question was about as stupid as stupid can get.

But given what we were faced with, alongside a large body of other students, it was a fair one.

This nightmare was huge, taller than an office building.

And was smacking students around like little ants congregating at its feet, biting at its ankles like

the pests they were.

They had _no_ hope… not a snowball's chance in hell… of penetrating that thing's scales.

I build weapons that fired supersonic rounds, great big artillery cannons that ripped through airships like they were made of paper and even _they_ would have difficulty piercing that hide.

Scarlet, as to be expected, had jumped off the cliff without a moment of hesitation, the very thing she struggled to do yesterday during Caza's class.

And it wasn't long before Kyzal had joined her in this crusade. Making a discrete, split-second use of his glossy black wings to glide down safely.

Me and Gabriel stood on the cliff, where it was safe.

"Ray…? You still with me?"

I heard his words, I even processed them.

But I had no response.

Nothing in my mind that could even be considered a definitive answer for him, or anyone else.

This beast, a Dremoha-class grimm… it had something about it that very much unsettled me.

And no, it wasn't the fact that it possessed three heads each acting independently from one another as it tried to crush, maul, splatter and decimate the army of students on the ground beneath the cliff.

It wasn't even the fact that those were all that remained of 9 total heads either, the other 7 being seared off by something hot and sharp.

But…

 _Muffled screaming… Warnings blotting out my fading vision…_

It… I-It was…

Sweat accumulated on my forehead as I failed to tear my eyes from the titan before me.

My breath was caught in my throat.

 _[Oxygen Deprivation Imminent!]_

N-No way… Not a chance in f-fucking hell…

 _The blonde limp in my arms, her heartrate slowing to a crawl…_

Streams of scorching hot water came in torrents as the Hydra blasted the students, burning them, causing immense pain for the bastard to fuel its bloodlust.

 _Not like this…_

I couldn't move… my body was frozen stiff in my spot on the cliffside. I didn't even notice Gabriel leaping down to assist.

My eyes were wide and centred on the jets this creature fired out of its three heads.

I'm pretty sure someone was calling my name but all sounds dulled to a silenced hum. All of my attention solely focused on the Hydra.

Literally any other element and this would be completely fine.

It _had_ to be water…

Why is it always fucking _water…?_

I couldn't fight it…

 _Yes, you can._

I couldn't help them…

 _They need you, Ray._

Nothing I was capable of was anywhere near damaging enough to actually yield results…

Jaune Arc flying past my head was more than enough proof of that…

 _None of them can fight like you can._

My hands were shaking as my team beckoned to me, desperately trying to wake me from this living nightmare…

I was useless to them in this situation… What good could possibly come from me taking this thing on?

A distraction? It would crush me like an insect…

I wasn't even going to attempt to cause damage to it. Not while trying to restrain my unstable energy at the same time.

Any damage I did to the Hydra would mean death for the other students.

I-It'd be more beneficial for everyone involved if I were to just turn around and wal-

An agonized scream caught my attention, piercing through my jumbled thoughts and forcing my attention to a girl on the ground.

Her ankle was twisted, possibly even broken. And what made her position so much worse was that the same scream that drew _my_ attention caused one of the Hydra's heads to face her too…

Steam billowed out of its nostrils as a menacing cerulean light made its way out of the open maw of the singular head.

 _She's going to die._

I _know_ that…

 _You need to help her._

 _You have to do something._

 _Shut_ up!

I couldn't stand the sight of the looming giant above her, about ready to finish the poor thing off as tears began welling in her eyes.

She couldn't die like this…

She had so much to live for…

And despite all that, all I did was stand here, trembling in my frozen state of complete and total fear of water.

Why did it have to be water?

The Hydra exhaled another jet of steam out of its nose again before its ugly head reared back, the glow in its throat brightening exponentially before a torrent of blistering water shot toward the girl on the ground.

My body moved before my mind even processed it.

I crashed into the ground before the girl and faced the rushing stream directly.

"Get your head down."

Hardlight accumulated in my right leg as I raised it, shimmering over my thigh and flowing downward toward my foot, building up to a devastating counterattack as the sole of my canvas shoe slammed into the dirt.

Vibrant, purple light erupted from my foot, crashing and shooting out toward the stream in jagged, irregularly sharpened shards to meet it halfway and cut right through the attack.

Its power and velocity far exceeded what anyone could have possibly expected from me as I poured more into it. Driving back the Hydra's attack and slamming into the creature's gut so hard, it shoved the thing back a few metres.

I didn't do any damage to it, it was only to distract the thing long enough to pick the girl up and relocate her somewhere safe.

A pillar of hardlight launched us toward the cliffside, somewhere for me to fortify as I set the girl down and turned around.

It was far too late for me to make a retreat, so I had to make do with what I was given.

A flat, empty plateau with absolutely little to no cover, assaulted by a monster of untold strength and size.

And its only aggressors were students of an academy designed to train warriors. Hardly experienced in taking down grimm a hundred times smaller than this one. We, as a collective group, were fighting an uphill battle.

There needed to be a way to turn the tide of this battle into our favour, and the only way I could think of doing that is through support.

The best offence was more often than not, a good defence.

And fortunately for everyone involved, defence is what I excelled at.

When you're the only child of one of the world's most stubborn men, it makes sense for you to be just as persistent.

"W-What are you going to do?"

The timid voice of the girl I saved broke through my concentration as I looked at her over my shoulder.

She was sat upright, clutching at her ankle as her ashen tresses swayed in the light breeze, brushing softly against the decorated steel spaulders sewn expertly to her battlescarred leather armour.

She raised a good question, one I had yet to figure out the answer to.

But if there was any hope to defeat this thing and let everyone go home in one piece, I needed to find a solution.

"Everyone's trying so hard to attack that they're completely forgetting defence," I replied harshly. "It would seem that it's my job to compensate for that. If nothing else, at least."

She nodded, even if she had a slight frown on her face.

"There's no cover here… the only way for anyone to avoid damage is to dodge," she commented, her tawny golden eyes gazing up at me. "If you can create cover for everyone, it'd make life a lot easier to drive this thing back."

She had a point, but driving it away would make it someone else's nightmare to deal with.

We had to kill this thing, it was the only way to relieve the world of its destructive wake.

"Y-You can create cover, right?"

It would exhaust my aura supply and suck me of all my energy, but yeah, I could create cover. But my hardlight can only be sustained while I'm in physical contact with it.

I'd have to keep moving to defend everyone from the blasts of water and the brute force of all three of its heads.

Three of them, one of me.

I could keep up with it, but that would leave this girl and others like her at the mercy of death while I'm protecting someone else.

Death takes no prisoners.

Only trophies.

But… if I cover the ground in a thin sheen of hardlight, I wouldn't have to move at all…

I could stay here, protect this girl, and give the injured somewhere safe to retreat to while bringing up momentary shield walls for people to hide behind.

But my aura would suffer heavily for it… I only have a finite amount.

I could only bring these shields up for maybe a couple of seconds at a time if I had any chance to retain some of it.

And with this hangover, those couple of seconds might only be one before these idiots had to get out of the fucking way.

This was going to suck.

And given how students were falling like dominoes left and right, it _already_ sucked.

There was no room for error here, if I was going to do this, I had to do it now.

"Brace yourself," I muttered to the girl behind me, crouching low to the ground and planting my fingers in the soil.

A curved wall of light slowly manifested in front of us, facing the Hydra, and in a bright violet flash, a sheet of hardlight spread out to cover the entire floor of the clearing beneath the cliff.

There was no way that asshole Ozpin wasn't watching, but I only had one question for him.

If you didn't recognise me before, do you remember me now?

My gaze fell on the girl behind me as she shuffled closer to where I was crouched.

"I'll call out people that need protecting, you just bring up shields," she said determinedly.

I nodded as I faced the battlefield again. My own face contorting into an adamant expression.

People seemed to take heed of the purple light illuminating the grass beneath their feet, some even acknowledging the one behind it as I had a few glances come my way.

That's right you morons, I'm _protecting you_ now. So, do your damn jobs and kill this thing so we can all go back inside.

"There! On the left!"

My eyes fell to the team of four boys trying to hack at the Hydra's legs as its body reared up to crush them, and the instant its clawed foot came down, it was met with a wall of hardlight, stopping it in its path.

And to add insult to injury, claws of my own jutted out of the shield and lodged themselves into the beast's ankle, keeping its foot in place long enough for the students to move before the shield faltered and shattered under the weight of the Dremoha.

There were a few students actually capable of doing damage to this thing.

My partner being one of them.

She was collaborating with DICL and a few others I wasn't paying attention to.

Good on her for actually making conversation, even if it was only when she couldn't afford to be shy.

I tried to spare quick observations of her as the girl beside me called out more shield placements, covering the groups fleeing after they realised that they were next to useless against this thing.

Most of which were congregating to me, taking cover behind the shield wall that I had to widen in order to cover them all.

I needed to keep it open to allow others inside.

Else they were as good as dead, but the more people that sat behind me and took a breather, the higher the chance of the Hydra targeting us was.

I took counter measures against this, reinforcing the shield with struts that stabbed into the ground and rooted themselves firmly.

Nothing was getting past this wall.

"Hey man… thanks," one of the male students behind me breathed out as he caught his breath.

I nodded to him, before quickly turning my gaze to Scarlet as her bardiche went straight through one of the Hydra's necks, followed up by a blast of white, scorching flames from that fucking kitsune bitch in DICL to cauterize the wound and prevent the Hydra from regenerating.

Good job, kid.

Scarlet was directed toward me by Dante and quickly ran over toward me, a slight look of satisfaction on her face as she sprinted over and slid behind my shield.

"Ray! You're here!" she beamed.

Don't look so surprised, you were all dead without someone to protect your sorry asses.

I hummed in affirmation as the girl next to me called out more students.

"Couldn't let you hog all the fun, could I?" I muttered sarcastically in reply as I tried to focus, my eyes darting to the shields popping up to block and deflect the Hydra's waterjets from sniping them as they ran toward the cliff face.

"I sincerely hope one of you has a goddamn plan, because this isn't going to last, Scarlet."

The girl crouch walked to my left-hand side and rested her hand on my shoulder to support herself there.

"Dante says he has a plan, and I'm not sure how capable he is of pulling it off. He's good, but I don't know him that well to make an accurate assumption of his abilities just yet," she replied informatively, keeping her eyes on the Hydra, analysing its movements.

"Forget that, we need to do something to get the injured out of here," A blue-haired girl called out from behind us, forcing my gaze to lock with hers for a moment before turning back.

"Really now? And how do you suppose we do that when there's no entrance to the school from down here?" I asked in return, albeit a little snarky. "I'm not building a set of fucking stairs for you all to saunter up there, not while trying to protect you at the same time. There's 9 of you here now, figure something out."

My response shut her up and silenced any murmuring for a few seconds before the girl I personally saved piped up. "What if we just played the waiting game? Hole up here until someone kills it?"

"And wait for the Hydra to target this area and kill us in one blast?" I countered, sparing a moment to glance at her.

She shook her head before pointing toward the Hydra. "There's still a dozen students taking it on and they seem to be doing well. If we actually _distract_ it long enough for them to finish it off, there's a chance we'll help them in the process."

I turned away from her, glaring at the behemoth as that red-hooded girl sprinted close enough to it to nearly get herself crushed as she fired shot after shot from her massive sniper-scythe.

"And how do you propose our distraction?" I asked after a few seconds of observing Ruby's weapon warping in her hands.

The girl next to me faltered in her response, shrinking slightly before taking a breath.

"We can't," Scarlet cut her off as she turned to me. I could feel her weight leaning into me a little more as she flashed an uncharacteristic smirk, "but you can."

 _Oh no…_

You are _not_ putting me up to this, you sadistic little-

* * *

 **A/N: I'm a lazy ass writer finally finishing off a mostly done chapter and actually getting to uploading it. Feels like a year since I last updated this story, but here we are.**

 **There aren't many things I feel I should address, but I've been working hard with Xera and Andy on Rogue Huntsman as well as providing support for Timeless Awakening so at least I haven't _stopped_ writing, just been too focused on those two stories.**

 **Let's not forget to mention co-writing A Feather Stolen, too.**

 **Either way, I'm going to making more of a conscious effort to get Lost in Binary chapters out because I've been severely falling behind on that.  
**

 **Have a good one!**

 **-Hydra**


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